A morphometric classification of pupal honeybee antennal lobe neurones in culture

Both intrinsic (programmed) and extrinsic (non-programmed) factors are thought to play a role in the morphogenesis of neurones in the honeybee antennal lobe (the first relay station in the olfactory pathway) during development. We present here a morphometric and statistical analysis of a large population of pupal honeybee antennal lobe neurones grown in primary culture. Quantitative parameters were used to characterize neuronal shapes. On the basis of such morphometric measurements, an automatic classification allowed three morphological types to be distinguished. Their main characteristics are presented and the role of intrinsic and extrinsic factors in their determination is discussed.