Transformation from the Pupal to Adult Wing in Oidaematophorus hirosakianus (Lepidoptera: Pterophoridae)

Plume moths have extremely indented wings like the vertebrate digits. Each lobe of the indented wing has a distinct fringe of marginal scales. Wing morphogenesis of a plume moth, Oidaematophorus hirosakianus (Matsumura), was histologically studied during the pupal stage. The indentations are formed through elimination, involving cell death, of the specific region of the pupal wing that has no indentations. The elimination is initiated at both the outer margin of the pupal wing and the midline between the adjacent lobes of the prospective adult wing, and it proceeds to the outer margin of the prospective adult wing. Concomitant with the elimination of the specific region of the pupal wing, the area of the prospective adult wing is decreased, and marginal scales are elongated from the margin of the prospective adult wing. Finally, long marginal scales are situated in the large space generated between the cuticular wing shell and the prospective adult wing and between the adjacent lobes of the prospective adult wing. Relation between the pupal wing degeneration and the marginal scale development is discussed.