Epidermis and gland cells

In centipedes, epidermal glands occur both singly and in groups. The head glands are dealt with in Chapter 15, the poison glands in Chapter 9. The remaining epidermal glands are dealt with in this chapter.

Geophilomorpha

There are no detailed accounts of the epidermis and single epidermal glands in geophilomorphs. Blower (1951) showed that there is a continuous layer of gland cells in Haplophilus subterraneus interspersed with small epidermal cells set in a very thick basement membrane (Fig. 48).

In many geophilomorphs the metasternites often bear pores, either singly or in groups (Fig. 19). These are the openings of unicellular glands that frequently produce luminous secretions (see below).

The inflated coxae of the terminal legs frequently bear pores, the openings of the coxal glands (Fig. 14). An electron microscope study of the coxal glands of Clinopodes linearis, Necrophloeophagus longicornis and Haplophilus subterraneus shows that the canal leading inwards from each pore is slightly dilated at its base like a drum stick and the intima is here somewhat thicker and of different texture from the cuticle of the body surface. Epidermal cells are radially arranged around the proximal dilation: they represent a typical transport epithelium. The nuclei as well as the poorly developed Golgi zones are located in the basal third of the cells.

Deep infoldings of the cell apex extend as far as the nuclear region.