The thoracic or ‘prothoracic’ glands of insects, which are the source of the growth and moulting hormone of the larval and pupal stages, degenerate and disappear soon after the final moult. In the adult Rhodnius the large nuclei of these glands are at an advanced stage of disintegration within 24 hr. of moulting, and at 48 hr. they have completely disappeared (Wigglesworth, 1952). The object of the present work was to study the physiological control of this breakdown.*

*

This work was begun jointly with Mr M. J. Wells, who carried out a few preliminary experiments on Oncopeltus fasciatus. The results are not reported here, but so far as they went they agreed with those obtained in Rhodnius.

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