A. E. Patil

Several important functions have been attributed to hemocytes in arthropoda. They have been reported to be involved in homeostasis (Bang, 1971), storage of glycogen and other nutrients (Johnston et al., 1973). The important role of hemocytes in defense mechanism has been recognized by many authors (Durilant, 1985; Soderhall and Cerenius, 1992). Due to this reasons the study of hemocytes is the most active area of research in invertebrates. Among the arthropods, the insect hemocytes are the centre of attraction. Morphological study of hemocytes of arachnids is very scarce especially in scorpionliving fossil. There are very few published reports regarding the hemocytes of Indian scorpion – Ravindranath (1974), Shah and Patil (2011, 2012), Hence we have undertaken this virgin field for the investigation. In the present investigation we have studied THC and DHC in male, nonpregnant and pregnant female along with types of hemocytes in H. phipsoni.