Impact of Heavy Metal Mercury on the Ovary of Adult Female Odontopus varicornis (Dist.) (Hemiptera : Pyrrhocoridae)

The female reproductive system of the adult female Odontopus varicornis is composed of two ovaries, each consists of five telotrophic type of ovarioles. The ovary during fully mature turn into yellow in colour due to heavy accumulation of yolk spheres in the terminal oocytes. Telotrophic ovarioles contain a single usually huge cluster of germ cells. The cluster consists of several oocytes that are linked to a common, ovarioles located, trophic compartment, usually including numerous trophocytes. The ovary showed some remarkable changes in the insects treated with sublethal concentration of mercury (25 ppm for 48 h). In treated insects the Tunica propria and other epithelial sheath of the terminal filament exhibited disintegration of oogonial cells, nutritive cord, trophocytes and cytoplasmic vacuolization.