Structure and metamorphic changes in the brain of the flesh fly Sarcophaga ruficornis Fabr. (Diptera: Sarcophagidae).

The larval brain is invested in a thin non-nucleated neurilemma below which lies a cellular perineurium. The brain lacks the central complex but feebly developed pedunculate bodies are present. The visual centres as represented by three optic lobe anlagen placed laterally to the protocerebrum. The deutocerebrum and tritocerebrum are represented by simple, small and rounded medullary masses. In adult, the central complex comprises of well developed central body, ellipsoid body, ventral tubercles and pons cerebralis. The pedunculate bodies are enormously developed, with well developed stalk and alpha and beta lobes. The optic lobe anlagen of the larva get transformed into well developed lamina, medulla externa, a small "lobula" and large centrally placed "lobula plate". The deutocerebrum becomes nodulated and the deuto- and tritocerebral commissures are formed. Differentiation of the central body is noticed in 2-day old pupa which is completed in next 24 h. The corpora ventralia and ellipsoid body get differentiated on 4th day and the ventral tubercles on 6th day of pupation. The division of larval medulla interna into "lobula" and "lobula plate" is completed on the 4th day. The nodullation of the deutocerebrum first appears on 4th day and gets completed by the end of 7th day. The deuto- and tritocerebral commissures appear on 3rd day of pupation.