492 IX. CAROTENOIDS AND VITAMINS A 



ber of other Orthoptera, for example, in the carnivorous green praying 

 mantis {Mantis religiosa) , and in the phytophagic short-horned grasshopper 

 {Acrida turrita), the narrow- winged bush katydid {Phaneroptera quadri- 

 pundata), and the phytophagic European locust {Isophya kraussi). Ac- 

 cording to Okay/^^ the carotenoid in the protein complex of these Orthop- 

 tera is astaxanthin; both the free pigment and the protein conjugate ap- 

 pear in the red wings, while the blue and yellow wings contain only the 

 free carotenoid. Junge"*^^ identified lutein as the xanthophyll component 

 in the protein-carotenoid complex present in the skin of the green locust 

 {Locusta (Tettigonia) viridissima) , of the twittering locust (Locusta cantans), 

 and of the parasitic oak locust {Meconema varium), in which it forms part 

 of the insectoverdin complex. 



The locusts have recently been the subject of considerable investigation. 

 According to Goodwin, ^^^ Volkonsky and Lederer^^^ could not identify any 

 carotenoids in the red integumental pigment of young North African desert 

 locusts {Schistocerca gregaria Forsk.) ; however, they did find these com- 

 pounds in the mature insect. In the latter case, Chauvin''^'^ identified the 

 pigment as a mixture of a- and jS-carotenes, while those in the immature 

 locusts were reported to be unknown carotenoids, acridioxanthin (yellow- 

 brown pigment) and acridioerythrine (red pigment). Further studies 

 were carried out by Goodwin and Srisukh.*'®-^*' They identified the rose- 

 colored pigment in the immature desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria 

 Forsk.), and in the African migratory locust {Locusta migratoria ?nigrator- 

 ioides R and F) as astaxanthin; /3-carotene also occurs. Astaxanthin is 

 present chiefly in the integument, wings, and eyes, while j8-carotene occurs 

 in fatty tissues, hemolymph, eggs, and eyes; some is present in the cuticle 

 of male insects. The astaxanthin apparently occurs as the protein com- 

 plex, not only in the two species listed above, but also in the red-banded lo- 

 cust {Nomadacris scpteiniasciata) .^ 



Some of the Orthoptera apparently do not need carotenoids, or they are 

 able to synthesize them. Thus, Przibram and Lederer"*^^ reported that the 

 predatory green mantis {Sphodromantis hioculata) synthesizes carotenoids, 

 since it contained these pigments even when raised on a carotene-free regi- 

 men from colorless eggs. On the other hand, the Mediterranean brown 



"' M. Volkonsky and E. Lederer, unpublished work cited by E. Lederer, Les Ca- 

 rotenoides des Ariimaux, Hermann, Paris, 1935. 



«8 R. Chauvin, Ann. Soc. Entomol. France, 10, 133-272 (1941). Compt. rend. soc. 

 biol., 135, 334-335 (1941). 



«9 T. W. Goodwin and S. Srisukh, Nature, 161, 525-526 (1948). 



«« T. W. Good«-in and S. Srisukh, Biochem. J., A5, 263-268 (1949). 



