ИСТИНА

It is known that Lasius niger are omnivorous ants. The diet consists of small invertebrates and liquid carbohydrates from plant’s nectar and honeydew of aphids. Worker ants feed larvae by trophallaxis. However, we do not have detailed knowledge about digestion of food and its exchange between larva and worker. In recently sequenced genome of L. niger genes, preliminary annotated as peritrophine genes, were found. It is a complex task finding out whether these genes are truly responsible for the synthesis of proteins of peritrophic membrane (PM). At the first stage, the aim of the analysis was to investigate the presence of peritrophic membrane in L. niger larvae of late instars. The study was conducted via histological method and using SEM. We made paraffin sections of larvae. Sections were stained by standard hematoxylin-eosinophil method. For SEM methods of research, lengthwise cleavages were made along the entire body of the larvae. Our study shows that one layer of large epithelial cells forms the midgut wall. The inner walls of the midgut has the layer of the villi, which touches PM. Histological samples and SEM images reveal the presence of the insect PM in late instars larvae of L. niger. PM is a multi-layered formation consisting from up to 15 layers. Multilayer PM surrounds the bolus of not digested solid food. Since midgut is blind, the PM acts as a filter for nutrients and stores food residues till the moment of pupation. We plan to study early instars larvae of this species further