Table Of ContentBASIC ARCHITECTURE OFTHE OVARY IN
THE GOLDEN SILK SPIDER,NEPHILA ClAVATA
AKIOKONDO.EIKOCHAK1 andM1TSUHIROFUKUDA
Kondo. A.? Chaki, E. and FukudaT M. 1993 Mil: Basic architecture ofthe ovary in the
golden silkspider, Nephila clavora. Memoirs ofthe QueenslandMuseum 33 (2):565-570.
Brisbane. ISSN0079-8835
In gravid females of the golden silk spider, Nephila davata L Koch, the ovaries are
composedofflat cistemae. Toclarify whetherthe cisternal structure is primarily orsecon-
darily formed by pressure from matureeggs, ovary development was examined from early
subadults to mature spiders. Serial paraffin sections erftheearly subadults definitely show
that apairoflongitudinal furrows, presumptive lumina ofthe ovaries, lined with loose cell
layers,penetrateperpendicularlyintotheovariantissue.SothebctSJCarchitectureoftheOVflfl
in N. clavafu isprimarily Halcislerna.
Im Falle von reifen Weibchcn von Nephila clavata sctzen stch die Ovarien aus flachen
Bctiteln zusarnmen. Um heruusz.ufinden, ob diese strukturelle Flitchc angeboren ist oder
durch den Druck der reifen Eicrn gebildel wird, wurdc die Entwicklung dcrOvarien vom
fruhen Subadult bis zum reifen Adult untersucht. In den seriellen Paraffinstuckchen van
fruhen Subadult zcigte sich, dap ein Paar J"iigitudinale Furehen, die mil /erstrcutcn £ei-
Icnschichlen verstarkt wurden, d.h. die presumptive Lumen, perpcndiklar in die Ovarium-
gewebegehen. Daraus kann man sehliepcn, da0 dieGrundarchitektur von diesen Ovarien
angeboren aus flachen Beuleln besteht.\jSpider, Nephila, man, histology,
AkioKondo. EikoChaktandMitsuhira Fukuda, DepartmentofBiology. FacultyofScience,
TWoh2o University, 2-1, Mixam' a 2 chotne, Funabashi-slu, Chiha, 274 Japan: 21 December
The golden silk spider, Nephila clavani L. clavaia were collected in Funabashi, Central
K.>.1, isabletodepositeggmassestwice(Kondo. Japan, from late August to early September.
I988;ShimojaJia) 197] ) Pnortothefirstoviposi- Afterremoval ofthe cuticle, the entire body or
tion, gravid females possesscomplicatedovaries the opisthosoina was fixed in FAA (formalin 5.
whose lumina are expanded among matureeggs. ethanol 15, glacial acetic acid 1) for 5-21 hours,
After the second oviposirion, the ovarian lumen dehydrated in graded strength of ethanol, em-
ofexhausted females is not closed and contains bedded in paraffin and sectioned at 6-lOu.m.
immature oocytes and yolk granule debris. In Before sectioning, a cut surface of the sample
both cases, the basic architecture ofthe ovary is containing mature eggs wastreated with distilled
notclearlyidentified. Invigorousfemales imme- water (Kondo. [969), Serial paraffin sections
diately after first oviposilion, the lumen of (he were stained with Mayer's acid-haemalaum and
ovary is completely closed and the ovarian eosin.
epithelium protrudes many young oocytes into
the body cavity. In this case the o\arian tubes RESULTS
elongatedorsally andventrallytoformflatcister-
nalasifthe lumina havebeen squeezedbetween
matureeggs,alreadyovulatedatthefirstoviposi- StlHADULTS
tion, side by side {Kondo and Chaki, 1991). Apair ofovaries was situated behind the book
Generally, however, the spiders have a pair of lung extending tothecloaca! sac and surrounded
tubular ovaries or ring-like ovaries. The present by the midgut glands dorsally and by silk glands
study tries to clarify whether the cisternal ar- laterally and ventrally (Figs 1,2), Although the
chitecture ofthe ovary of A', clavafa is primarily ovarian tissue was divided in two at the anterior
or secondarily formed by pressure from mature and posteriorends,the left andrightovarieswere
not separated from each other and formed single
rod-shaped tissue forthe most pari.
MATERIALS ANDMETHODS Maximum width and thickness of the ov.
tissue were 250u.m and 150u.ni in a small sub-
mm
adult with ecphalolhorax 1.6 wide, 2.6 im
l
Four female subadult and two adult Aft long, and 500u,m and 220jim in a large subadult
566 MEMOIRSOFTHEQUEENSLANDMUSEUM
FIGS 1,2. 1. Longitudinal section ofalarge subadult.cs: cloacal sac, m: midgut, mg: midgutgland, ov: ovary,
sg:silkgland.2.Transversalsectionofafemaleimmediatelyafterfinalmoulting,m;midgut,mg:midgutgland,
ov;ovary.sg: silkgland. Scales: 0.5 mm.
whose cephalothorax was 2.8 mm and 4.2 mm (Fig. 3). The loose cell layer may be the ovarian
respectively. wall ortheovarian epithelium. Then the furrows
In transverse sections the ovarian tissue was seemed to be surrounded by a single layerofthe
trapezoidal. In a small subadult, two furrows oocytes. Most oocytes, whose cytoplasm was
lined with a loose cell layer penetrated from the strongly basophilic, were cuboidal or polygonal
uppersideofthetrapezoid intotheovarian tissue and40-50ujti in diameter.
OVARYARCHITECTURE IN NEPHILACLAVATA 567
«
* -J*
FIGS 3,4.Transversesection ofovariantissue in small subadult(3)and in largesubadult(4).Scales: 50>m.
Thesphericalgerminalvesiclewas25-35u-min Thecellsconstitutingtheovarianwallweremore
diameter and contained an extremely basophilic orless columnarand hadellipsoidal nuclei in the
and slightly eosinophilic nucleolus. Yolk basalpartandvacuolatedprotoplasminthedistal
granules had not formed. The vitelline body or part facing the presumptive lumen oftheovary.
Balbiani's yolk nucleus was notobserved. In the large subadult, profiles of the oocytes
Each oocyte was connected with the ovarian closely resembled the oocytes in the small sub-
wall through a short egg stalk or the funiculus. adult, though they increased slightly in number
568 MEMOIRS OFTHEQUEENSLAND MUSEUM
FIGS 5, 6. 5. Transverse section ofovary in female immediately afterfinal moulting. A. Median dorsal part of
ovary. B. Distal partofF-shaped lumenofovary. 6. Lumen ofovary filledwitheosinophilic finegranulesin a
gravidfemale, f: eosinophilicfinegranules,oc: oocyte,oe: ovarianepithelium. Scales: 50p.m.
andvolume(Fig.4). Aprominent featurewasthe Adults
appearanceofnarrowluminaintheovaries,while In an adult presumably immediately after its
final moult, the width of the entire ovaries was
vacuolate cells in the ovarian wall remained in mm
approximately 1.0 andthelumenoftheovary
depth at both the anterior and posterior ends of was F- orT-shaped, branching laterally (Fig. 2).
the ovarian tissue. The left and right ovarian epithelia were not
OVARY ARCHITECT!TRF INNEPHILACLAVaTA
fused, but connected with the oviducts. Total basophilic cells by the final moult. Since the
number of oocytes counted in one female was OOcytec arc connected with this epithelium
1.390 including the small oocytes. No oocytes through egg stalks, it seems to be the ovarian
were observed above the dorsal side of the epitheliuminthestrictsense,thoughflatcellsare
hoiizontally developing lumina alignedalong the outside ofthisepithelium.
Oocytes reached a diameter of 170ji.ni. Ger- Subsequently the Oocytes begin vitellogeitesis
minal vesicles were 40-60|xm in diameter. The and accumulate eosinophilic yolk granules in
nucleolus was collapsed and dispersed into their cytoplasm. The lumina ofthe ovaues con-
nucleoplasm. Cytoplasm of the oocyte was less tinues to branch amongst the oocytes and on the.
basophilic (Fie. 2). The eosinophilic yolk surface ofthe mass ofthe oocytes, and they arc
granules were neither formed nor accumulated. filled with eosinophilic fine granules which
Theovarian wall seemed tobeasimplecolumnar respond to fine granules attaching to die sui
or pseudostratified epithelium composed of ofthe chorion ofthe lycosid egg (Kondo, 1969).
slender* compactly arranged and extremely the spheres on die chorion (Humphreys, 198"^
philie cells. Flatcells were linedupbetween 1987) or cement substance of the egg nus>
the ovarian epithelium and the oocytes (Fig. 5). (Kondoand C'lmki, 1991).
In a gravid female whose ovaries reached 4.0 In A* clavata, the ovarian epithelia of the left
mm inwidth, theovarycontained manydevelop- and n>;hl nvaiics arc not directly connected with
ing oocytes 3S0-460u.m in diameter, and tew each other, though in archacid spiders they arc
immature oocytes. The developing oocyteswere connected through a bridge in the posterior por-
tilled with eosinophilic yolk granules and had a tion of the ovaries to form a H-shaped organ
terminal vesicle 50-60fim m diameter. The (Traeiuc and Legcndrc. 1970). Interstitial tissue.
lumen ofthe ovary branchesamong thedevelop- however,does notexistbetween the left andright
ing oocytes. The lumen of the ovary contained ovaries, sotheovaries ofA! clavata lorm a single
nophihefine granuleswhichwerepresumab- rod-shapedorgan.This rod-shapedstructure was
ly akindofcementsubstanceusedtoholdtheegg confirmed not only from both transverse and
ukiss after oviposition (Fig 6) horizontal sections but also by dissection ofthe
( opisthosoma.
N
DISCUSSION Inconclusion, in clavata the basic architec-
ture of the ovary is primarily composed of flat
cisterns.
The formation ofthe ovary in Ncphila clavata
W&3 examined from the earlysubadult stage The LITERATURECITED
small subadult employed was possibly a nymph
of the 6th or 7th instar prior to the penultimate HUMPHREYS, W.F. 1983. The uirface of spiders'
moult. In any case, at an early stage, the lon- tv-'t'.s. Journal ofZoology, London 200: 303-316.
gitudinal ovarian walls arise as loose cell layers 1987, TllC accoutrements of Spiders' eggs
penetrating from the dorsal side ol the ovarian (Araocae),with anexplorationoftheirfunctional
tissue perpendicularly into the mass of the importance. Zoological Journal of the Linnean
oocytes. The epithelial cells are vacuolated in Society, London 89: 171-201.
their distal part and form a lumen which is I- KONDO,A. 1969.TheOnestructuresoftheearlyspider
shaped in ttansversc .srvtioii. Then, tlu* ovaiian eDmabilgv&.iU.TSheectSicoinenBceNoR.ep2o0r7t:o4f7t-h6e7T,opkiyso1-K8y.oiku
epithelium constructs flat rather than cylindrical
I'/XK, Effects of incubation temperature on the
.'siom.-ie embryonic development and the oviposition in
By the final moulttheluminahavebeenformed thesiJk spider.NeplulnclavataL.Koch.Proceed-
jn the vacuolated poilion of the ovan.ni ings Of Arthropodan Embryological Society <>t
epithelium. Immediately ulterthe final moulting, Japan No. 23:21-22.
whiletheoocytesincreaseinnumberandvolume, KONDO. A. & CHAKI. E. 1991 Histological studies
a few branches ofthe lumen arise, mostly m the on Hie ovaries ot the golden silk spidet, Ncphila
posterior half of the ovary, forming F- or T- ChlVara L. Koch, before and after oviposition.
Proceedings of Arthropodan Lnibryolugica!
•itupcd profiles in transverse sections Simul-
Society ofJapan No. 26: 9-10.
taneously the oocytes grow and become less SJUMOJANA. M. 1971. Studieson thegenusNcphila
basophe.ilTihc,e lpi»eorsheacpeslldluaeyertoinathceystmoaplllassmuibcaduilnt inOkiflftwaIslua.nBdi.o(l1o)giSctaudliMeasgoanzitnheelOifkemcaycvleof
iCio-mmpsofosremds Ogrfadsulaelnldyeri,ntcoocmoplaucmtnaatndepistirhoerliigulmy TRACItUIBC(InrJa&pOJtLefBtGdEI,NDRE mr 1970 Doimfe
570 MEMOIRSOFTHEQUEENSLANDMUSEUM
anatomiquessurl'appareilgenitalfemelledesAr- domadairesdesSeancesde1*AcademiedesScien-
chaeidae (Araneides). Comptes Rendus Heb- ces,SerieD,SciencesNaturelles270: 1918-1921
