Annulate lamellae in hemipteran preblastoderm cytoplasm and nuclei

Annulate lamellae (AL) were found in preblastoderm cytoplasm and nuclei of the giant milkweed bug,Oncopeltus fasciatus. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first report of such an occurrence among the insects. Cytoplasmic AL were scattered about the nucleus during early prophase and then accumulated during late prophase to form two dome-shaped arrays lying opposite each other with the nucleus interposed. Also, intranuclear annulate lamellae were found as single strands or vesicles within the nucleus during prophase.