Structure Accessory gland

Attractive Compounds. The female-produced sex pheromone of the yellow mealworm beetle, Tenebrio molitor, is (R)-4-methyl- 1-nonanol [316] 163 (Scheme 18). Careful investigations on the biosynthesis of this compound [317] revealed that it is produced through a modification of normal fatty acid biosynthesis (Fig. 1, Fig. 2) propanoate serves as the starter, while formal chain elongation with acetate, propanoate, and acetate (accompanied by removal of the oxygens) produces 4-methylnonanoate which yields the pheromone alcohol after reduction. The structures and role of proteins that are present in the hemolymph or secreted by the tubular accessory glands of T. molitor, and that may carry lipophilic chemical messengers (like pheromones) are under investigation [318,319]. 

Preliminary studies to determine sperm viability and effect of canavanine on production of accessory gland products were inconclusive. However, experiments in which canavanine-treated males were mated with control females indicated some reduction in fertility whereas canavanine-treated females mated with normal males showed reduction in both fertility and fecundity (29). This observation would be expected if the effect of canvanine is expressed both directly in the gamate cell and in the trophocytes which provide nourishment for the developing oocyte. It seems unlikely that sufficient canavanine remained in the adult to have a direct effect at the time of oocyte formation. Rather, it is supposed that canavanine exerted its influence during the early stages of development of the reproductive structures in the final larval stadium. The mass of tissue at this time is less than 2 mg as compared to 400 mg in the fully developed adult (31). 

B) Morphological Presence of Courtship Glands and Accessory Structures... 

Aksenova, T. G., 1973, The structure of accessory male glands in some species of the genus Microtus (Rodentia, Cricetidae), Zool. Zh., 52 1843. 

Salivary glands— The salivary glands represent a network of accessory structures which are essential to digestion. Three pairs of salivary glands are of primary importance— parotid, submaxillary, and sublingual. Fig. D-18 illustrates the location of these glands. 

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