CROP PROTECTION 44

GENERAL PHYSIOLOGY AND TOXICOLOGY

INSECT
PHYSIOLOGY
THE CIRCULATORY SYSTEM

RYAN CHRISTIAN B. GUIRITAN

Faculty In-charge, CPRT 44
Department of Entomology
 CIRCULATORY SYSTEM

• is considered an open circulatory system with the hemolymph not

found within the confines of a closed system of conducting vessels
• the hemolymph bathes the internal organs directly in the body
cavity or hemocoel

The only conducting vessel is the dorsal vessel.

 TERMS/STRUCTURES

• Hemocytes - blood cells

• Hemocoel - the body cavity where the blood flows

• Hemolymph - insect’s blood; an extracellular fluid, an internal

medium of transport for nutrients as well as waste products of
metabolism

• Dorsal vessel - a vessel situated along the median dorsal line just
beneath the integument. It is divided into 2 regions:
– heart - region with valves or ostia; in abdomen; pumping
– aorta - basically a tube; in thorax and head; conducting vessel
• Ostia - valvular opening which allow hemolymph to enter (incurrent
ostia) or exit (excurrent) from the heart

• Accessory pulsatile organs – aid the movement of hemolymph in

addition to the pumping activities of the heart. They are concerned with
maintaining a circulation through the appendages

• Alary muscles – found on either sides of the heart, in a segmental

arrangement, so named (wing) because when viewed from either dorsal
or ventral aspect they resemble wings. These fibromuscular structures
are attached laterally to the body wall and vary in number from 1-13
pairs, depending on the species of insects

• Sinuses and Diaphragms – the hemocoel or body cavity particularly in

the abdomen is usually separated into 2 or sometimes 3 cavities or
sinuses. This compartmentalization is produced by the processes of
one or two fibromuscular septa
 CIRCULATION
• The general pattern of circulation in insects can be described as
follows:
1. Blood enters the heart through the ostia (incurrent)
2. It is then directed anteriorly by a wave of peristaltic contraction that
passes along the dorsal vessel in the direction of the head
3. The direction of propagation of the wave of peristaltic contraction has
been observed to reverse on occasion
4. Blood usually returns to general circulation through the excurrent ostia
and in the head
5. With the aid of undulatory movements of the diaphragms, action of the
accessory pulsatile structures, and visceral and body movements,
blood circulates throughout the general body cavity and appendages
6. Blood returns to the pericardial sinus through the openings in the dorsal
diaphragm and enters the heart
 HEMOLYMPH COMPOSITION

• Water
• Inorganic solutes
• Organic constituents
– Nitrogenous constituent
– Carbohydrates
– Lipids
– Small organic molecules
 NITROGENOUS CONSTITUENTS

1. Amino acids
– constitutes 33-65% of the non-protein in the blood
– stored in the blood for special metabolic events
– amino acid concentration vary among species and within individual
– according to diet and developmental as well as physiological state
Examples of amino acids:
– Tyrosine: primary precursor for quinines required for tanning new cuticle
– Proline: source of energy for flight muscles
– Glutamine: used for transporting nitrogenous degradation product via
transamination
– Glutamine, Proline and Glycine: predominant in most insect plasma
– Aspartate, Methionine, Isoleucine and Phenylalanine: present in low
concentration
2. Amines and ammonia; purines and pteridines; peptides
3. Proteins
– among the most complex of all known chemical compounds
and also the most characteristic of living organisms
– hemolymph proteins is generally about 1-5% of hemolymph but
varies with species and individual physiological states
– pattern of protein concentration in adults depends on sex, diet
and reproductive cycle.
Examples of proteins:
• Vitellogenins – lypoglycoproteins taken up from plasma by
ovaries for conversion to the yolk protein vitellin; contain 5-
10% lipid, 2-13% carbohydrate and high amino acid content
in terms of aspartic and glutamic acids
Examples of proteins:
• Juvenile hormone-binding proteins – sufficiently water
soluble to occur in an effective concentration. The JH-
binding protein protects JH from nonspecific esterases
present at all times in the plasma but offers no protection
against the JH specific esterases.
Examples of proteins:
• Storage protein – protein
granules taken up by the
fat body at pupation are
used by adults as a
source of amino acids
and energy for protein
synthesis
Examples of proteins:
• Enzymes – bounded in hemocytes
• Hemoglobin – plasma of larval Chironomidae contain
hemoglobin
CARBOHYDRATES
• function as a major energy source; found conjugated with protein

• Trehalose – an insect blood sugar; a disaccharide; it is a

source of energy and so its level in blood is reduced by
starvation and also by activity such as flight
• Glycerol – an alcohol containing carbohydrate; an
antifreeze substance
• Glycogen – long-chain polysaccharide
LIPIDS

• are compounds which are poorly

soluble in water, but soluble in
organic solvents
• present in minute fat particles
• associated with proteins
• marked increase during
development of flight when lipids
in fat body are mobilized as fuel
for flight muscles
• in forms of neutral fats, sterols or
phospholipids
 SMALL ORGANIC MOLECULES

• Acids – carboxylic acids like citric and a ketoglutaric, malic,

fusaric, succinic and oxaloacetic – neutralize 50% of inorganic
cations

• Phosphates – a glycerophosphate – important in insect flight,

making insects efficient fliers
PECULIARITIES OF INSECT HEMOLYMPH

• Not concerned with gas transport

• Tendency to replace inorganic osmolar effectors with organic
molecules (amino acids)
• Presence of trahalose as major carbohydrate
• Relatively high organic phosphate content and a wide variety of
enzymes
• Characterizing cationic composition: Na for Apterygotes; Na,
Mg, K and Ca for Exopteryotes; K and Mg for endopterygotes