The importance of methods of fixation in the study of insect blood cells

Abstract

Two of the several methods used in fixing insect blood cells were found satisfactory. Rapid dispersion of cells in fixative followed by centrifugation resulted in sufficiently large numbers of cells for observation. This was not true of injection of fixative into the haemocoel. The shape, size, and inclusions, important features in the characterization of insect blood cells, are greatly altered by some of the methods. The use of thick plastic sections allowed structures to be seen which are not normally discernible with the light microscope.