Gut cells in the workers of Apis cerana indica (F.)

The gut cells in the alimentary canal of workers of honey bee were studied and variations in the foregut, which is divisible into pharynx, oesophagus, crop and proventriculus, and the hindgut which is subdivided into the pylorus, ileum and rectum brought out in terms of histology. It was observed that the oesophagus and proventriculus are surrounded by layers of well developed muscles with an inner cuticular layer (intima). The midgut epithelium has elongated columnar cells with digestive and regenerative cells at the base. In the hindgut the ileac lumen is lined by an inner cuticle that extends throughout its entire length including the rectum. Under TEM differences in cell types of the foregut, midgut and the hind gut are brought out.