ABSTRACT
Following cauterization in different regions of each larval segment, different effects - on growth and pattern - in the adult hemitergite were obtained. A correspondence between different segments in the larva and in the adult was found, with the exception of the Vllth abdominal segment in the male, which apparently has no adult cuticular representation. The histoblasts forming the imaginal Anlage are grouped in the central part of the larval hemisegment. Following cauterization, the viable histoblasts only partially replace the killed ones, giving rise to incomplete tergites.
Pattern damages are characteristic of the cauterized region. Cauterization in marginal regions of the abdominal segment, although not killing the histoblasts, induce specific fusions and penetrations between neighbouring colateral and contralateral hemitergites. The effects of cauterization on the number of cuticular elements and their disposition in the adult pattern are discussed.
