part_of adult lobular accessory gland adult LAG secretory cell Fig. 16-21, in Biology of Ticks ISBN:0-19-505910-7. TADS:0000458 TADS:0000458 The secretory cells form the major portion of the LAG. Most are tall columnar epithelial cells. In feeding virgin females, thesecretory cells contain numerous mitochondria and extensive development of the rough endoplasmic reticulum and ribosomes, features characteristic of secretory activity. However, no evidence of lipid droplets were reported, although this may be related to the timeof collection (i.e., perhaps this might have been found if samples were taken during oviposition). According to Lees and Beament (1948), these cells produce a lipid-rich secretion which coats the eggs as they pass along the vestibular vagina during oviposition, but this could not be confirmed in later studies. default_namespace cell