Water balance across the cuticle of a soil insect.
نویسنده
چکیده
1. The water regime in soil commonly approaches equilibrium of water potential with the insects living there. 2. Even under these conditions, non-equilibrium processes have a significant effect on water movement through the cuticle of soil insects. 3. Measurements of water potential on either side of the cuticle of Costelytra zealandica larvae showed that equilibrium is not reached while the insect is alive. There is an active outward flow of water by thermoosmosis associated with the flow of heat from the insect.
منابع مشابه
Lipid melting and cuticular permeability: new insights into an old problem.
The idea that the physical properties of cuticular lipids affect cuticular permeability goes back over 65 years. This proposal has achieved textbook status, despite controversy and the general lack of direct supporting evidence. Recent work supports the standard model, in which lipid melting results in increased cuticular permeability. Surprisingly, although all species studied to date can synt...
متن کاملEffect of mating stage on water balance, cuticular hydrocarbons and metabolism in the desert harvester ant, Pogonomyrmex barbatus.
Water-loss rates increase after mating in queens of the harvester ant Pogonomyrmex barbatus (Formicidae: Myrmicinae), then increase again after the mated queens excavate an incipient nest. We determined the mechanistic basis for these increased water-loss rates by examining cuticular permeability, respiratory water loss, metabolic rates, and cuticular hydrocarbons for queens at three stages in ...
متن کاملDarker eggs of mosquitoes resist more to dry conditions: Melanin enhances serosal cuticle contribution in egg resistance to desiccation in Aedes, Anopheles and Culex vectors
Mosquito vectors lay their white eggs in the aquatic milieu. During early embryogenesis water passes freely through the transparent eggshell, which at this moment is composed of exochorion and endochorion. Within two hours the endochorion darkens via melanization but even so eggs shrink and perish if removed from moisture. However, during mid-embryogenesis, cells of the extraembryonic serosa se...
متن کاملWax, sex and the origin of species: Dual roles of insect cuticular hydrocarbons in adaptation and mating
Evolutionary changes in traits that affect both ecological divergence and mating signals could lead to reproductive isolation and the formation of new species. Insect cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) are potential examples of such dual traits. They form a waxy layer on the cuticle of the insect to maintain water balance and prevent desiccation, while also acting as signaling molecules in mate reco...
متن کاملInteractions between Fungal Pathogens and Insect Hosts
Fungal diseases in insects are common and widespread and often decimate insect populations in spectacular epizootics. Virtually all insect orders are susceptible to fungal diseases. Fungi infect insects by breaching the host cuticle; they are the principal pathogens among sucking insects because these hosts cannot ingest other pathogens that infect through the gut wall. Fungi are also particula...
متن کاملذخیره در منابع من
با ذخیره ی این منبع در منابع من، دسترسی به آن را برای استفاده های بعدی آسان تر کنید
عنوان ژورنال:
- The Journal of experimental biology
دوره 62 1 شماره
صفحات -
تاریخ انتشار 1975