• Biomedical Science Letters
• /
• v.24 no.2
• /
• pp.125-129
• /
• 2018

Megaselia scalaris, also known as the scuttle fly, has a humpbacked morphology and was categorized as an insect undergoing complete metamorphosis. Megaselia scalaris was reported to be found in diverse environments. Recently, the scuttle fly has been a focus of studies by forensic scientists, geneticists, and developmental biologists. However, detailed research into scuttle fly development is still unclear. Therefore, the current study has been performed to elucidate the development of Megaselia scalaris. The scuttle fly undergoes four distinct stages of development: egg, larva, pupa and adult fly. After mating, the scuttle fly eggs hatch within one day and become larvae. The newly generated larvae go through 1, 2, and 3 instar stages within a period of 5~10 days. The instar stage 1 takes 1~2 days, instar stage 2 takes 1~2 days, and instar stage 3 takes 3~5 days. Depending on the environmental temperature, the pupae stage takes approximately 10~15 days to complete. The pupa stage can be divided into five sub-stages: 1~3 days, 4~6 days, 7~9 days, 10~12 days and 13~15 days. After molting, the newly formed adult scuttle fly can fly after one day. The morphological characteristics of the scuttle fly during each stage of development was detailed within this study.

• Biomedical Science Letters
• /
• v.26 no.3
• /
• pp.217-225
• /
• 2020

Scuttle fly which moves abruptly after standing for a while and stop suddenly to rush off again, is a fly species in the Phoridae family. This species like rotten organic materials and it is known to proliferate even in the industrial materials including organic solvents. These characteristic behaviors of the scuttle fly seem to be related to muscular and nervous system or neurotransmitters. Thus, we focused at the neurotransmitter, corazonin (Crz) that is known to be related to resistance to stress and investigated the developmental process of the neurons in the scuttle fly. Corazonin is a neuropeptide being expressed in the central nervous system (CNS) and is known to control mainly physiological functions and behaviors. Its many functions that have been proposed are still in controversy. In this studies, we found that there are three groups of corazoninergic neurons in the larval CNS of the scuttle fly and these neurons undergo distinguishable changes through metamorphic process compared to different fly species. Larva has 3 pairs of Crz neurons at the dorsolateral area of the brain, 1 pair at the dorsomedial brain and 8 pairs at the ventral nerve cord.

• Biomedical Science Letters
• /
• v.27 no.4
• /
• pp.239-247
• /
• 2021

The scuttle fly is a fly species in the Phoridae family. Scuttle fly which moves abruptly after standing for a while and stop suddenly to rush off again. These characteristic behaviors of the scuttle fly seem to be related to muscular and nervous system or neurotransmitters. Thus, we focused at the neurotransmitter, corazonin (Crz) that is known to be related to resistance to stress and investigated the developmental process of the neurons in the scuttle fly. In a previous studies, we found that there are three groups of corazoninergic neurons in the larval CNS of the scuttle. Larva has 3 pairs of Crz neurons at the dorsolateral area of the brain, 1 pair at the dorsomedial brain and 8 pairs at the ventral nerve cord. In this studies, among these neurons, 1 pair of dorsomedial brain and 8 pairs of ventral nerve cord disappear in early pupal stage after metamorphosis. Only the 3 pairs of dorsolateral brain persist expression of Crz gene through all the period of pupa stage. This group of neurons converge gradually to frontal center of the brain and situated at the medial region. These pairs of corazoninergic neurons keep their number and location in adult stage. In the future, we expect further studies on the histological characteristics of corazonin-expressing cells and the expression of corazonin gene.

• Biomedical Science Letters
• /
• v.29 no.4
• /
• pp.330-335
• /
• 2023

The corazonin (Crz) gene showed two subtypes of different length at laval and pupal stage. The long subtype fade out in adult central nerve system (CNS) but the short one survive through all the life cycle from larva to adult. The short subtype has the same base sequences with mature Crz mRNA and detected in both brain and ventral nerve cord (VNC). The long one, on the contrary, was detected only in the brain tissue. As observed in above results, Crz neurons develop in different pattern in the CNS of scuttle fly and the Crz gene expresses two different subtypes. These results suggest that this neurotransmitter may perform differential neurophysiological functions in the scuttle fly. Variation in the amino acid composition of the final active undecapeptide supports in strong those possibilities. We expect further studies on the relationship between neurophysiological functions of Crz and behavioral characteristics of the scuttle fly.

• Biomedical Science Letters
• /
• v.28 no.4
• /
• pp.290-297
• /
• 2022

Through previous studies, the central nervous system (CNS) was collected by dividing the scuttle fly into larval, pupa, and adult stages by developmental stage, and the morphological characteristics were observed. In situ hybridization (ISH) using the collected central nervous system, it was possible to confirm the location and extent of expression of the neurotransmitter corazonin (Crz) at each stage of development. In this study, paraffin specimens were prepared using central nervous system tissues of 3rd instar larval stage of scuttle fly, which had completed in situ hybridization, and general histochemical staining (hematoxylin-eosin, H-E) and special histochemical staining (luxol fast blue-cresyl violet) was performed to observe the histological and cytological morphology characteristics of corazonin neurons. As a result, a variety of nerve cell body existed between many myelin sheath. The corazonin neurons compose cortex of central nervous system with other neurons congregating in this tissue and show larger cell body relatively in neurohistochemical analysis.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
• /
• v.50 no.3
• /
• pp.284-288
• /
• 2018

The scuttle fly central nervous system (CNS) is unobservable during egg and larvae instar stage 1. During days 2~3 of larvae instar stage 2, the left and right hemisphere of the brain can be observed. Below the brain, the subesophageal ganglion (SOG) connects to the ventral nerve cord (VNC). During days 3~5 of larvae instar stage 3, the CNS enlarged slightly with no other changes. During days 1~3 of the pupal stage the CNS moved to the head with no distinguishable changes from the previous stage. During days 4~6 of the pupal stage, the left and right hemisphere of the brain had fused into one mass and the optic lobe (OL) located on the side of the brain completed its development. During days 7~9 of the pupal stage, the OL began to show eyeball pigment. The SOG was connected to the brain and the VNC began to separate, which was accompanied by an increase in nerve fibers. During days 10~12 of the pupal stage, the brain of the CNS and VNC was clearly distinguished and the brown pigmentation of OL became darker. During days 13~15 days of the pupal stage, the separated brain and VNC became connected by thin nerve fiber. The VNC began to separate into two with a greater increase in nerve fibers. The adult fly showed similar features to the previous stage, but the brain was located in the head and the VNC in the chest.

• Animal Systematics, Evolution and Diversity
• /
• v.36 no.4
• /
• pp.296-303
• /
• 2020

Three species of the genus Dohrniphora, viz., D. cornuta, D. malaysiae, and D. prescherweberae were newly recorded from Korea. These newly recorded species can be easily identified by the characteristic that inner face of male hind femur equipped with a group of peg-like stout setae on basal sensory area. Peg-like setae are arranged perpendicularly in D. cornuta whereas linear in D. malaysiae and somewhat arched in D. prescherweberae. Also, concave area near the peg-like setae is also well developed in male which is smooth in D. cornuta, on the other hand, there is well developed distal carina in D. malaysiae and with groups of microtrichia in D. prescherweberae. In this study, detailed descriptions with photographs of three newly recorded species and a key to males of all Korean Dohrniphora species are provided.