STORAGE OF CAROTENOIDS AND OF VITAMINS A 491 



combination of a bile pigment, mesobiliverdin, and protein. This chromo- 

 protein pigment, called ''insectoverdin,"'^'- or carotenoid-albumin, was in- 

 vestigated by Junge,**^ and is believed to be widely distributed in in- 

 sects. '^^"-^^^ Goodwin and Srisukh^^^ isolated it from the solitary locust 

 {Locusta solitaria), and Junge*^^ found it in the skin of the larvae of the aro- 

 matic butterfly (Sphinx (Hyloicus) ligustri). Przibram and Lederer*^* 

 also found that the red femoral swellings in Dixippus morosus consisted 

 largely of a-carotene. Carotenes, but no xanthophylls, were found at every 

 stage of the metamorphosis of the walking-leaf insect (Phyllium pulchrifo- 

 lium).^^^ Grayson alone*^^ and with Tauber^^^ reported that carotene is the 

 main pigment in the two-striped locust (Melanoplus hivittatus), which 

 ranges in color from reddish brown to dark green, with yellow stripes. 

 Small amounts of xanthophyll are undoubtedly also present. The caro- 

 tene was found mainly in the body cavity, where it was concentrated in the 

 gonads. Although /3-carotene was present in both the light and the dark 

 phase of this locust, it was deposited directly below the cuticle only in the 

 light phase. 



Considerable data indicate that, in addition to carotenes, a xantho- 

 phyll-protein complex is quite widespread in this group. Thus, Lederer^^ 

 called attention to the presence of an unidentified hydroxycarotenoid in the 

 band-winged locust (Oedipoda miniata), in addition to jS-carotene; Okay*^" 

 verified the results of Lederer,^^ and proved that the carotenoid was present 

 in the wing as a water-soluble protein complex. Orthopteroerythrin, ob- 

 tained by Okay^^^ from the bright red hind legs of Oedipoda miniata, was 

 shown to be a carotenoid-protein complex instead of a bile pigment-pro- 

 tein complex as suggested earlier. A similar chromoprotein was found in 

 other Orthoptera, including the blue-winged locusts {Oedipoda schochii and 

 0. caerulescens) , the red-winged locust {Acrotylus insuhricus), the Italian 

 red-winged migratory locust {Caloptenus iialicus), and the yellow-winged 

 locust (0. aurea) .^^'^~'^'^^ Okay*^^'*^^ reported carotenoproteins in a num- 



«« P. Podiapolskv, Zool. Anz., 31, 362-366 (1907). 



«^ A. Panu and M. L. Verrier, Compt. rend. soc. bioL, 100, 1118-1120 (1929). 



*^ H. Przibram and E. Lederer, Anz. Akad. Wiss. Wien, Math. Naturw. Kl., 1933, 

 No. 17, 163-165. 



489 H. Junge, Z. physiol. Chem., 268, 179-186 (1941). 



«» S. Okay, Rev. faculte sci. univ. Istanbul, B 12, 1-8 (1947); Chem. Abst., J,2, 2683- 

 2684 (1948). 



«i T. W. Goodwin and S. Srisukh, Biochem. J., 48, 199-203 (1950). 



«2 J. M. Grayson, Iowa State Coll. J. Sci., 17, 69-70 (1942). 



«3 J. M. Grayson and O. E. Tauber, Iowa State Coll. J. Sci., 17, 191-196 (1943). 



«" S. Okay, Nature, 155, 635 (1945). 



«5S. Okay, Rev. faculte sci. univ. Istanbul, B 12, 89-106 (1947); Chem. Abst., 42, 

 2684 (1948). 



«6 S. Okay, Bull. Soc. Zool. France, 74, 11-15 (1949). 



