| Popis: |
Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the internal anatomy and physiology of gall mites. The integument of gall mites is composed of a thin, colorless, and transparent chitinous cuticle that is folded into numerous circular rings of different arrangement and shape according to the species. Superimposed on this, tiny spines or tubercles may be present. The prosoma usually is dorsally covered by a distinct prodorsal plate without these rings but bearing often longitudinal ridges. Dorsally and ventrally cuticular apodemes protrude into the body, which serve as attachment sites for large body muscles. The cuticle is principally composed of two layers, the external epicuticle and the internal procuticle, as in other arthropods. The cuticle is underlain by the epidermis. In contrast to the epicuticle, which is rather uniformly structured in all parts of the body, the procuticle differs in appearance in various body regions. This depends on the different degree of sclerotization, which is generally high in the prosomal parts bearing a “dorsal shield” and the body appendages, but minimal in the weak, vermiform part of the body—the opisthosoma. |
