From Spinning Silk to Spreading Saliva: Mouthpart Remodeling inManduca sexta(Lepidoptera: Sphingidae)

As a model organism, the tobacco hornworm Manduca sexta (Linnaeus 1763) has contributed much to our knowledge of developmental processes in insects, and major developmental changes between different larval instars are generally well understood. Second and later instars of M. sexta do not produce silk, and their spinneret and accessory labial glands (=Lyonet’s glands), structures thought to be key players in silk production in other...