showed that also in this case the activity of alkahne phosphatase was very 

 low (Fig. Ill — 20). 



The follo\ving table (Tab. I) summarizes the differences in the activity 

 of some of the enzymes in the alimentary canal лу1ис11 were observed during 

 development of Galleria mellonella L. 



It can be seen from the table that the most significant changes in the acti- 

 vity are shown by the alkaline phosphatase of the alimentary canal. Being 

 extremely active during feeding of the larvae it looses its activity completely 

 during moulting, which is the period of physiological starvation. Similarly, 

 it could never be detected by cytochemical methods in the intestine of ex- 

 perimentally starved larvae (Przelecka, Sarzala, Wroniszewska, 1959). 

 In larvae fed on a carbohydrate (Przelecka, Sarzala, 1959) or a protein 

 diet (Przelecka, 1959) its activity is extremely 1олу. On this kind of diet 

 activity of the aU^aline phosphatase could never be observed in the apical 

 part of the epithelial cells and on the fresh border, which phenomenon, as has 

 been mentioned, is especially characteristic for normally feeding 1агл'ае. These 

 observations suggest that the alkaline phosphatase may be engaged in proces- 

 ses connected with digestion and absorption of wax which is tJie natural food 

 of the larvae. 



Acknowledgements 



We would like to express our gratitude to Dr. A. G. E. Pearse in луЬозе 

 laboratory in the Postgraduate Medical School of London one of us (A. P.) 

 had the good opportunity to start these experiments and wdio provided us 

 kindly with some of the re?vgents. 



LITERATURE 



Gomori G., 1953, Microscopic Histochemistry. The University of Chicago Press. 



Pearse A.G.E., 1954, Histocliemistry. Churchil. London. 



Przelecka A., 1959, (unpublished data). 



Przelecka A., Sarzala M., 1959, The influence of different diets on the intestinal phos- 

 phatases in Galleria mellonella larvae. In preparation. 



Przelecka A., Sarzala M., Wroniszewska A., 1959, Congress of the Polish Ana- 

 tomical and Zoological Soc. 



РЕЗЮМЕ 



У ццщеварнтельной системы личииок, куколок и имаго Galleria mellonella исследо- 

 валась активность фосфатаз и эстераз. Были использованы замороженные срезы, 

 фиксированные охлажденным формалином. Для определения фосфатаз были примсне- 



12 Sympos. Evolutio Insectorum 177 



