Summary
Long-term light deprivation of the royal pair of Neotermes jouteli during the phase of reproduction leads to a dramatic change in the organization within the compound eye. In a swarming alate, investigated with scanning and transmission electron microscopy, the eye consists of about 200 ommatidia. No differences between male and female eyes are observed. Each ommatidium is composed of a biconvex cornea, a cone of the eucone type, and a rhabdom which is located directly beneath the Semper cells. The rhabdom consists of eight rhabdomeres which are fused along the ommatidial axis. In the central part of the compound eye the rhabdom measures roughly 20 μm in length. Concealed life of the imagines causes a dismantling of the cone and the rhabdom until complete destruction. This is accompanied by an increase in the number of pigment granules and a decrease in the number of mitochondria.
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Bremer, S., Hertel, H. & Wachmann, E. Degeneration of the compound eye of the termite Neotermes jouteli (Isoptera) in darkness during the phase of reproduction. Zoomorphology 113, 205–210 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00394861
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00394861