Ocellar projections within the central nervous system of the worker honey bee, Apis mellifera

Cell Tissue Res. 1977 Jan 24;176(4):505-27. doi: 10.1007/BF00231405.

Abstract

The projections of ocellar fibres within the brain and thorax of the honey bee, Apis mellifera, were established using a modified cobalt sulphide technique, supplemented by serial sectioning of the brain for the light microscope. The results are: 5 large fibres in each lateral nerve and 12 in the median nerve have wide-field terminal arborisations in ocellar association areas on either side of the posterior slope area. 9 medium-sized fibres in each lateral nerve and 12 in the median nerve form a second ocellar association area on each side of the perioesophageal foramen. A group of fine fibres , stained via the ocellar nerves, arborise just below and anterior to the protocerebral bridge. 10 medium-sized fibres run from the level of the ocellar nerve tracts to the first and second thoracic ganglia, branching in a number of discrete areas within each ganglion. These fibres also form a restricted ocellar association area within the suboesophageal ganglion. A few fibres run between the higher-order optic centres and the ocellar tract. The large- and medium-sized fibres give off short, stout spines from their axons within the ocellar tracts.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Bees / cytology*
  • Visual Pathways / cytology*