Intermitochondrial bridge junctions in fat body cells of the pre-hatch larvae of the forest tent caterpillar Malacosoma disstria HBN.

An electron microscopic feature of fat body cells of diapausing Malacosoma disstria pre-hatch caterpillars, experimentally held at certain controlled time-and-temperature conditions, is an elaborate bridge junction, between mitochondria, strikingly similar in appearance to the septate junction which has frequently been described as occurring between cells of many invertebrate species. It is suggested that the intermitochondrial unctions may well represent elaborate forms of interaction between organelles in order to enhance metabolic efficiency in times of stress.