The distribution of glycogen and fat in Thelastoma bulhõesi (Magalhães, 1900), a nematode parasitic in cockroaches

Abstract

1. The distribution of glycogen and fat in Thelastoma bulhõesi has been shown to be essentially the same as in Ascaris lumbricoides.2. The chief storage areas of glycogen are the muscle cells and the lateral lines, with smaller amounts in the dorsal and ventral lines, the intestine and the oesophagus.3. The chief storage areas of fat are the dorsal, ventral and lateral lines, the intestine, the oocytes, oogonia and ova.4. Fat has been found in the lumen of the intestine of several nematodes, especially in the males of Hammerschmidtiella diesingi after 24 hr. starvation.5. Both glycogen and fat in females of T. bulhõesi were considerably reduced, except in the gonads, after 12 days starvation.6. Staining whole mounts with oil red O was found to be the most convenient method of determining if the food reserves were being used or not.