Insect Internal Morphology and

Physiology

Lecture notes prepared by JMBNovenario for CP11a (General Entomology)

What is Insect Morphology?

Morphology is the comparative study of

anatomical structure.
A structure is both a result of its function and its
particular evolutionary history
An interplay between function and history

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Morphology answers the following
questions:

What does it do?

A question of biomechanics or functional
morphology
Where did it come from?
A question of its revolutionary history and origin,
or comparative morphology

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Anatomy
The insect body cavity, called the haemocoel (hemocoel) and
filled with fluid haemolymph (hemolymph), is lined with endoderm
and ectoderm.

Haemolymph (so-called because it combines many roles of

vertebrate blood (haem/hem and lymph) bathes all internal
organs, delivers nutrients, removes metabolites, and performs
immune functions.

Physiology
- the scientific study of functions and mechanisms that work in a
living system

Let’s check…

Lecture notes prepared by JMBNovenario for CP11a (General Entomology)

Internal Anatomy of Insects

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General view of the internal morphology of a
cockroach

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The insect’s gut, digestion and nutrition
 Insects of different groups consume an astonishing variety of foods,
including watery xylem sap (e.g. nymphs of spittle bugs and
cicadas), vertebrate blood (e.g. bed bugs and female mosquitoes),
dry wood (e.g. some termites), bacteria and algae (e.g. black fly
and many caddisfly larvae), and the internal tissues of other insects
(e.g. endoparasitic wasp larvae).
 The diverse range of mouthpart types correlates with the diets of
different insects, but gut structure and function also reflect the
mechanical properties and the nutrient composition of the food
eaten.
 Four major feeding specializations can be identified, depending on
whether the food is solid or liquid, or of plant or animal origin

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The insect’s gut, digestion and nutrition
 Gut morphology and physiology relate to these dietary differences
in the following ways:
Insects that take solid food typically have a wide, straight, short
gut with strong musculature and obvious protection from abrasion
(especially in the midgut, which has no cuticular lining). These
features are most obvious in solid-feeders with rapid throughput of
food, as in plant-feeding caterpillars.
insects feeding on blood, sap or nectar usually have long, narrow,
convoluted guts to allow maximal contact with the liquid food;
here, protection from abrasion is unnecessary. The most obvious
gut specialization of liquid-feeders is a mechanism for removing
excess water to concentrate nutrient substances prior to
digestion, as seen in hemipterans

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Three main regions of the insect gut
 The foregut (stomodeum) is concerned with ingestion, storage,
grinding and transport of food to the next region, the midgut.
 Midgut (Mesenteron) - digestive enzymes are produced and
secreted, and absorption of the products of digestion occurs.
 Hindgut (Proctodaeum) - absorption of water, salts and other
valuable molecules occurs, prior to elimination of the faeces through
the anus.

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Three main regions of the insect gut
Regions of the gut display local specializations, which are
variously developed in different insects, depending on diet.
Typically, the foregut is subdivided into a pharynx, an
esophagus (esophagus) and a crop (food storage area), and
in insects that ingest solid food there is often a grinding organ,
the proventriculus (or gizzard). The proventriculus is especially
well developed in Orthoptera and Blattodea, such as crickets,
cockroaches and termites, in which the epithelium is
longitudinally ridged and armed with spines or teeth.
At the anterior end of the foregut, the mouth opens into a
preoral cavity, which is bounded by the bases of the
mouthparts and often divided into an upper area, or
cibarium, and a lower part, or salivarium.
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Three main regions of the insect gut

Lecture notes prepared by JMBNovenario for CP11a (General Entomology)

Three main regions of the insect gut

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Saliva and food ingestion
Salivary secretions dilute the ingested food and adjust its
pH and ionic content. The saliva often contains digestive
enzymes and in blood-feeding insects, anticoagulants
and thinning agents are also present.
In insects with extra-intestinal digestion, such as
predatory Hemiptera, digestive enzymes are exported
into the food and the resulting liquid is ingested.

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Digestion of food
 Most digestion occurs in the midgut, where the epithelial cells
produce and secrete digestive enzymes and also absorb the
resultant food breakdown products. Insect food consists principally
of polymers of carbohydrates and proteins, which are digested by
enzymatically breaking these large molecules into small monomers.

The Fat Bodies

 In many insects, especially in holometabolous larvae, fat body tissue
is a conspicuous internal component, typically forming a pale tissue
comprising loose sheets, ribbons or lobes of cells lying in the
haemocoel.

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The Excretory system and waste disposal
 Excretion—the removal from the body of the waste products of
metabolism, especially nitrogenous compounds—is essential. It
differs from defecation in that excretory wastes have been
metabolized in cells of the body rather than simply passing directly
from the mouth to the anus.
insect feces, either in liquid form or packaged in pellets and
known as frass, contain both undigested food and metabolic
excretions.
Aquatic insects eliminate dilute wastes from their anus directly into
the water, and so their fecal material is flushed away.
In comparison, terrestrial insects generally must conserve water. This
requires efficient waste disposal in a concentrated or even dry
form, while simultaneously avoiding the potentially toxic effects of
nitrogen.

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The Excretory system and waste disposal

 The main organs of excretion and osmoregulation in insects are the

Malpighian tubules and the rectum and/or ileum, which all act
together.
Malpighian tubules are outgrowths of the alimentary canal and
consist of long, thin tubules formed of a single layer of cells
surrounding a blind-ending lumen.
Ileum, the generally narrower middle portion is the colon, and the
expanded posterior section is the rectum. In many terrestrial
insects, the rectum is the only site of water and solute resorption
from the excreta.

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Respiratory system

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All insects are aerobic organisms. They use the same
metabolic reactions as other animals to convert nutrients
into chemical bond energy of ATP.

 The respiratory system is responsible for delivering enough oxygen to

all cells of the body and for removing carbon dioxide (CO2) that is
produced as a waste product of cellular respiration. The respiratory
system of insects (and many other arthropods) is separate from the
circulatory system.
 It is a complex network of tubes (tracheal system) that delivers
oxygen-containing air to every cell of the body

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The respiratory system of insects

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 How does an insect breathe?

Air enters the insect's body through valve-like openings

in the exoskeleton.
After passing through a spiracle, air enters a
longitudinal tracheal trunk
 Air is diffused throughout a complex, branching
network of tracheal tubes that subdivides into smaller
and smaller diameters and reaches every part of the
body. At the end of each tracheal branch, a special
cell (the tracheole) provides a thin, moist interface for
the exchange of gasses between atmospheric air and
a living cell.
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Lecture notes prepared by JMBNovenario for CP11a (General Entomology)
Other structures of the respiratory system

Each tracheal tube develops as an invagination of the

ectoderm during embryonic development. To prevent its
collapse under pressure, a thin, reinforcing "wire" of
cuticle (the taenidia) winds spirally through the
membranous wall.
The absence of taenidia in certain parts of the tracheal
system allows the formation of collapsible air sacs.

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Lecture notes prepared by JMBNovenario for CP11a (General Entomology)
 Aquatic vs. terrestrial insects

 In dry terrestrial environments, this  Aquatic insects consume the

temporary air supply allows an stored air while under water or use
insect to conserve water by it to regulate buoyancy.
closing its spiracles during periods
of high evaporative stress.

Lecture notes prepared by JMBNovenario for CP11a (General Entomology)

Respiration in aquatic insects
Aquatic insects need oxygen too! They are equipped with
a variety of adaptations that allow them to carry a supply
of oxygen with them under water or to acquire it directly
from their environment.

Lecture notes prepared by JMBNovenario for CP11a (General Entomology)

Cuticular respiration
Many aquatic species have a relatively thin
integument that is permeable to oxygen (and
carbon dioxide). Diffusion of gasses through this
body wall (cuticular respiration) may be
sufficient to meet the metabolic demands of
small, inactive insects -- especially those living in
cold, fast-moving streams where there is plenty
of dissolved oxygen.

Lecture notes prepared by JMBNovenario for CP11a (General Entomology)

 Biological gills
A biological gill is an organ
that allows dissolved oxygen
from the water to pass (by
diffusion) into an organism's
body. In insects, gills are
usually outgrowths of the
tracheal system. They are
covered by a thin layer of
cuticle that is permeable to
both oxygen and carbon
dioxide.

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Breathing tubes
Hollow siphons that
gather air from the
surface of the
water

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Air bubbles
Some aquatic insects (diving
beetles, for example) carry a
bubble of air with them
whenever they dive beneath
the water surface. This
bubble may be held under
the elytra (wing covers) or it
may be trapped against the
body by specialized hairs.
The bubble usually covers
one or more spiracles so the
insect can "breathe" air from
the bubble while submerged.

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The Circulatory System

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Haemolymph –the insect body fluid circulates
freely around the internal organs.

Insects have open circulatory system which has

only few vessels and compartments to direct
hemolymph movement, in contrast to the closed
network of blood conducting vessels seen in
vertebrates.

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Properties and functions of the hemolymph
Hemolymph is a watery fluid containing ions,
molecules and cells.
It is clear and colorless but sometimes gives the
impression of orange, or yellow, red depending
on the food taken in by the individual insect.
All chemical exchanges between insect tissues
are mediated via the hemolymph:
Transport of hormones
Distribution of nutrients from the gut
Removal of wastes

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Properties and functions of the hemolymph

The insect hemolymph rarely contains respiratory

pigments and hence has a very low oxygen-carrying
capacity.
It also serves as a water reserve, as it main constituent,
plasma, is an aqueous solution of inorganic ions, lipids,
sugars (trehalose), amino acids, proteins, organic acids
and other compounds.
Proteins in the hemolymph include those that act in :
Storage (hexamerin)
Transport of lipids (lipophorin)
Complex with iron (ferritin)
Or juvenile hormone (JH-binding protein)
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Properties and functions of the hemolymph
The blood cells, or hemocytes, are of several types
(mainly plasmatocytes, granulocytes, prohemocytes and
oenocytoids) and all are nucleate. These have four basic
function:
Phagocytosis – the ingestion of small particles and
substrate such as metabolites
Encapsulation of parasites and other large foreign
materials
Hemolymph coagulation
Storage and distribution of nutrients

Lecture notes prepared by JMBNovenario for CP11a (General Entomology)

Properties and functions of the hemolymph

The hemocoel contains two additional

types of cells:
Nephrocytes (sometimes called the pericardial
cells) generally occur on or near the dorsal
vessel and regulate the hemolymph composition
by sieving/filtering certain substances and
metabolizing them for use or excretion
Oenocytes – which are of epidermal origin but
may occur in the hemocoel, fat body or
epidermis.

Lecture notes prepared by JMBNovenario for CP11a (General Entomology)

Structures of the circulatory system
Blood circulation in insects is maintained mostly by a
system of muscular pumps moving hemolymph
through compartments separated by fibromuscular
septa or membranes. The main pump is the pulsatile
dorsal vessel. The anterior part may be called the
aorta and the posterior may be called the heart.
The dorsal vessel is a simple tube, generally
composed of one layer of myocardial cells with
segmentally arranged opening, ostia. The ostia
permit the one-way flow of hemolymph into the
dorsal vessel as a result of valves that prevent back
flow.
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Structures of the circulatory system

There may be up to three pairs of thoracic ostia

and nine pairs of abdominal ostia, although
there is an evolutionary tendency towards
reduction in the number of ostia. The dorsal
vessel lies in a compartment, the pericardial
sinus,
Segmental alary muscles support the dorsal
vessel but their contractions do not affect
heartbeat.

Lecture notes prepared by JMBNovenario for CP11a (General Entomology)

How does the blood circulate?
Hemolymph enters the pericardial sinus via segmental
openings in the diaphragm and/or at the posterior
border;
Then moves into the dorsal vessel via the ostia during a
muscular relaxation phase.
Waves of contraction, which normally start at the
posterior end of the body, pump the hemolymph
forwards in the dorsal vessel and out via the aorta into
the head.
Next, the appendages of the head and thorax are
supplied with hemolymph as it circulates posteroventrally
and eventually returns to the pericardial sinus and the
dorsal vessel.
Lecture notes prepared by JMBNovenario for CP11a (General Entomology)
Lecture notes prepared by JMBNovenario for CP11a (General Entomology)
Protection and defense by the hemolymph

Hemolymph provides various kinds of

protection and defense from:
Physical injury
Injury to the integument elicits a wound-
healing process that involves hemocytes and
plasma coagulation. A hemolymph clot seals
the wound and reduces further hemolymph
loss and bacterial entry.

Lecture notes prepared by JMBNovenario for CP11a (General Entomology)

Protection and defense by the hemolymph
Entry of disease organisms, parasites, or other
foreign substances
If disease organisms or particles enter an insect's
body, then immune responses are invoked. These
include the cellular defense mechanisms of
phagocytosis, encapsulation and nodule formation
mediated by the hemocytes, as well as the actions
of humoral factors such as enzymes or other proteins
The action of predators (Sometimes, insects
contain malodorous or distasteful chemicals
which are deterrent to predators
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Nervous System

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The Central Nervous System
The CNS of insects consists of the brain, the
ventral ganglia, and the ventral nerve cord.

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The Central Nervous System
The brain is in the head in most insects but it is located in
several body segments posterior to the anterior end of the
body in dipterous larvae.
The ventral ganglia and connective nerve cord usually lie
close to the cuticle on the ventral side of the body. Typically,
but not invariably, nerves from ganglion innervate muscles
and organs within the segment where the ganglion resides.
A ganglion typically contains a mass of neuronal cell bodies of
inter- and motoneurons at the periphery and a central region,
the neuropil, where synapses occur. The cell bodies of sensory
neurons of insects usually are near the site of sensory stimulus
reception and, consequently, many sensory neuron cell
bodies are located peripherally in the cuticle and in or on
internal organs.
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THE BRAIN – consists of three fused ganglionic masses: Protocerebrum,
deutocerebrum, and tritocerebrum. These three ganglia rests on top of the
esophagus. These are collectively known as supraesophageal ganglion
 Protocerebrum – the site of major integrative centers that process
incoming information from many sensory sources. The optic lobes
which process information from the compound eye is part of the
protocerebrum. It also receives input from ocelli via the ocellar
nerves.
 The corpora pedunculata, the mushroom bodies, are large, bilateral
integrative centers in the protocerebrum.

Optic nerve

Lateral
protocerebrum

Antennal
lobe
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Olfactory
receptor neurons
Deutocerebrum receives sensory input from
mechano- and chemosensory receptor neurons
on the antennae and sends motor signal to
muscles of the antennae.
Chemosensory input goes to the antennal lobe
(AL) neuropil, while the antennal
mechanosensory and motor center (AMMC)
receives the mechanoreceptor input and sends
motor information out

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Tritocerebrum – sends motoneurons to muscles in
the labrum and pharynx, and innervates the
stomatogastric nervous system, system of
several small ganglia, including the frontal
ganglion, hypocerebral ganglion, and ingluvial
ganglia that has control of foregut muscles.

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Ventral ganglia

Many insects have three thoracic ganglia. Each

thoracic ganglion sends motor axons to the leg
muscles of its segments, and receives sensory
axons from sensory receptors in the tarsi and leg
joints, they also supply motor nerves to the wing
muscles.

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 Metathoracic
Prothoracic ganglion
Mesothoracic
ganglion ganglion Ventral Median nerve
nerve cord

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 Abdominal ganglia Trachea

The number of abdominal

ganglia is highly variable Ventral nerve
cord
in different orders. These
ganglia send axons to
different areas in the
genital and postgenital
structures and receives
sensory stimuli from the Nerves to
sensory receptor in the cercus
abdomen. Trachea

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REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEM

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 MALE FEMALE
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 MALE REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEM

The male reproductive

system of cockroach
consists of a pair of testes,
vas deferens, ejaculatory
duct, utricular gland,
phallic gland, and
external genitalia

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 MALE REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEM

Testes – a pair of three-

lobed structures lying
dorsolaterally in the 4th
and 5th abdominal
segments, embedded in
the fat body. The testes
are well-developed and
elaborate structures in
young cockroaches and
are full of sperm

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 MALE REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEM

 Vas deferens – a white, thin thread

found posterior to the testes.
 Ejaculatory duct – it is an
elongated wide median duct
which runs backwards in the
abdomen and opens out by male
gonopore situated ventral to the
anus
 Urticular gland – a large accessory
reproductive gland, whitish in
color and situated at the junction
of the vas deferens with
ejaculatory gland.

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 MALE REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEM

 Phallic gland – a long and club-

shaped accessory gland. It
narrows posteriorly into a tubular
structure and finally tapers to open
by a separate aperture located
close to the male gonopore at the
hind of the body.

 External genitalia – chitinous

asymmetrical structures found
surrounding the male gonopore at
the end of the abdomen.

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 MALE REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEM

 Spermatophore – these are sperms

produced from the testes when a
cockroach is still young. These are
brought by the vas deferens into
the seminal vesicles for storage.

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FEMALE REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEM

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 FEMALE REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEM

The female
reproductive system
consists of a pair of
ovaries, vagina,
genital pouch,
collateral glands,
spermatheca and
the external genitalia.

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 FEMALE REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEM

 Ovaries – two, large, light-

yellow lying laterally in the 4th
to 6th segments, embedded in
the fat body. Each ovary is
formed of a group of eight
ovarian tubules or ovarioles
containing a chain of
developing ova.
An ovariole is divided into 5
zones: suspensory filament,
zone of germarium, vitellarium,
egg chamber, and the stalk or
pedicel.

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FEMALE REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEM
 Suspensory filament – a thin, thread like
continuation of the connective tissue
layer and provides attachment of the
ovariole to the dorsal body wall,
suspending the ovariole in the
haemocoel.
 Zone of germarium – consists of germ
cells or oogonia and mature into
oocytes, which are then pushed
downwards
 Vitellarium – the zone that receives the
oocytes one by one. It is the largest
part of the ovariole where the oocytes
become enclosed in a follicle of
epithelium and increase progressively in
size

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FEMALE REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEM
Egg chamber – a thick
chamber that contains a single
large mature ovum at a time.
Stalk or pedicel – a thin-walled
hollow stalk that opens into the
lateral oviduct

Oviducts – the stalk of all eight

ovarioles on one side joined
together with a muscular wall

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 FEMALE REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEM

 Vagina – a broad median

common oviduct formed by
the union of two lateral
oviducts. It opens the female
gonopore into the genital
chamber.
 Genital pouch – a large, boat-
shaped structure which floor is
formed by the 7th sternite, roof
and sides are formed by the 8th
and 9th sternites. It can be
divided into two: genital
chamber, and oothecal
chamber.
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 FEMALE REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEM

Collaterial glands – these

are accessory
reproductive glands
which join to form a
common duct which
opens into the dorsal side
of the genital chamber.
Spermatheca – a pair of
club-shaped, unequal
sized (one is larger than
the other) structures.
External genitalia
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