A morphometric and cytochemical analysis of aging changes in the flight muscle of Nasonia vitripennis (Walk) (Hymenoptera, pteromalidae).

A morphometric and cytochemical analysis was carried out on the effect of age and diet on the flight muscles of Nasonia vitripennis (Walk). A significant decline in mitochondrial volume with age is revealed in pupae-fed insects, but this is not recorded in sucrose-fed insects. There is also a significant decline in the activity of cytochrome oxidase in sucrose-fed, but not in pupae-fed, insects. It is concluded that the sucrose diet caused a delay in the ultrastructural deterioration of the flight muscles.