In vivo and in vitro study of the action of dopamine on oocyte growth and juvenile hormone production in Blattella germanica (L.) (Dictyoptera; Blattellidae)

In vivo, within the first ovarian cycle of B. germanica, dopamine (1 microgram/cockroach) enhanced oocyte growth when injected on day 1 or 2, just before vitellogenesis, whereas it induced the inverse effect on day 6-7, at the end of vitellogenesis. In vitro, dopamine (10(-4) M) stimulates juvenile hormone production by incubated corpora allata from 2-day-old females, and inhibited it on 6-day-old glands. The physiological significance of these effects is discussed.