Quantification of
epicuticle wax content (i.e., removal) from treated P.
According to Subramanyam & Roesli (2000), silica dioxide is able to break the wax layer of the
epicuticle of insects.
Silver staining of the gills and ultrastructural localization of silver grains in the
epicuticle, endocuticle, and apical region of the epithelial cells suggest that the gill epithelium of D.
Hair surface is known to be covered by a compact hydrophobic layer, the
epicuticle, mainly made of fatty acid chains.
Pedrini et-al., [5] have thoroughly reviewed the biochemistry of insect
epicuticle degradation by enzymes secreted by entomopathogenic fungi.
Penetration of the
epicuticle was achieved via a narrow peg produced by an appressorium (Fig.
Fine sandy nesting substrates have the potential to abrade the waxy
epicuticle of flea larvae, increasing water loss and larval mortality (123).
The outer layer of the integument, the
epicuticle, contains a monomolecular layer of lipid (the wax layer) that is responsible for almost all the integument's resistance to water loss.
The complex bacterial community in ESD lesions has now been well described, characterized by bacteria that degrade the interstitial matrix of the
epicuticle (Smolowitz et al.
The cuticle consists of a thin outer
epicuticle containing lipids and proteins and a thick procuticle consisting mainly of chitin and proteins (Andersen et al., 1995; Samson et al., 1988).