A novel intercellular junction between cone cells in the compound eye of Ephestia kuehniella

A previously unidentified intercellular junction between cone cells in the compound eye of the moth Ephestia is described. The junctions are characterized by deposition of granular material, in register, along portions of the membranes of adjacent cone cells during compound eye development and by a constant intercellular space of 8–10 nm. Accumulation of the cone cell material along localized regions of the cell membrane suggests an interaction between a specialized area of the membrane and a specific cytoplasmic constituent, and the exact matching of the regions of deposition between adjacent cells implies intercellular interaction. The junctional nature of these membrane regions is often obscured in the adult crystalline cone but is inferred from observations on developing cone cells.