The morphology and histology of the female reproductive system of Pseudochorthippus parallelus parallelus (Zetterstedt, 1821) (Orthoptera, Acrididae) and the histochemical features of the yolk granules.

Since insects belonging to the Acrididae family have different nutritional preferences, and their physical characteristics differ, they pose a problem in classification for taxonomists. In order to remove this confusion, the biology of the species belonging to this family should be well known. Therefore, the morphology and histology of the female reproductive system of Pseudochorthippus parallelus parallelus (Zetterstedt, 1821) (Orthoptera, Acrididae) and histochemical content of the yolk granules accumulating in oocyte cytoplasm have been studied by using light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy in this paper. The reproductive system of females of this species has five or six ovarioles in each ovary. The histological data revealed that the ovary of P. parallelus parallelus is of panoistic type, with each ovariole divided into a terminal filament, a germarium, a vitellarium, and a pedicel. The histochemical features of the yolk granules which accumulate in the oocyte cytoplasm have been also identified. During the oocyte developmental stage, the accumulation of progressively larger yolk granules has been observed in the ooplasm. Histochemical staining has revealed that these yolk granules are in protein and carbohydrate structures.