Changes in fat bodies during the post-embryonic developmental stages of workers and drones of Apis cerana indica F.

In the larva of Apis cerana indica F., fat cells form closely packed polygonal cells having prominent nuclei and are multilayered. In the fat cells of first instar larva, there is a large vacuole which gives the cells a 'Signet ring' appearance and it measures 0.056 mm in both the workers and drones. The size of the fat cell increases to 0.11 mm in one-day old larva. The fat cell in the third instar larva measures 0.24 mm (workers) and 0.26 mm (drones), suggesting a proportional increase with the growth of the body. In pupa, a number of small and large darkly stained rounded albuminoid globules appear in the fat cells which increase in the mid pupal stage and decrease in the late pupal stages. This decrease suggests that the fat cells store the energy reserves during the larval stages which get depleted during the period of metamorphosis. The cells do not divide and those which are left behind give rise to the fat body of the adult.