BACKGROUND In this study the haemolymph components of infected and none infected Lymnaea gedrosiana with xiphidiocercaria larvae was compared. METHODS Five hundred Fifty Lymnaea snails were collected from Ilam and Mazandaran provinces, Iran, during 2008-2009. The snails were transported to the lab at Tehran University of Medical Sciences and their cercarial sheddings were studied. Haemolmyphs...

Male sagebrush crickets, Cyphoderris strepitans, offer an unusual nuptial food gift to females during copulation: females feed on the hindwings of males and ingest haemolymph seeping from the wounds they inflict. Previous work has shown that females prevented from wing feeding during initial copulations are more receptive to subsequent matings than females permitted to wing feed. In the present...

Immune defence in creel-caught and trawled Nephrops norvegicus was investigated to assess a possible relationship between phenoloxidase (PO) activation and the total haemocyte count (THC). Capture, capture method and emersion evoked physiological and immunological responses that may have implications for the ability of N. norvegicus to survive the effects of such stressors. Haemolymph THC was a...

Strong tolerance of freezing is an important strategy for insects living in extremely cold regions. They produce highly effective cryoprotectant systems consisting of ice-nucleating proteins and polyols, which enables tolerable freezing of the body fl uid. Therefore, the measurement of the concentrations of polyols and the activity of ice nucleators in the haemolymph is an essential tool for de...

As white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) can be highly pathogenic in penaeid shrimp, various feed supplements have been tested to help to protect farmed shrimp against WSSV disease. Here a polysaccharide extract from Halophila ovalis (HO) seagrass was added to feeds at concentrations of 0.25, 0.5, and 1.0 g[a1] /kg to assess its ability to protect Black Tiger shrimp (Penaeus monodon) against WSSV ch...

The hydrocarbons in extractable lipids of haemolymph from healthy and diseased larvae of the Japanese beetle (Popillia japoniea) have been characterized. Haemolymph contains at least 21 saturated hydrocarbons having from 21 to 27 carbon atoms. Normal, monomethyl-branched, and dimethylbranched alkanes with even and odd carbon numbers were identified. Tricosane (12%), ll-methyltricosane (19%), 9,...

We have investigated the pattern of metabolic changes during tethered flight with and without lift generation in the African fruit beetle Pachnoda sinuata. Two distinct metabolic phases occur during lift-generating flight. The first phase is characterised by a high rate of oxygen consumption and a rapid change in proline and alanine levels in the haemolymph and flight muscles and in glycogen le...

Larvae of Culex tarsalis, a mosquito, are capable of surviving and developing in dilutions of sea water ranging from 0 mosmol l-1 to 700 mosmol l-1. In waters more dilute than 400 mosmol l-1, the larvae osmoregulate, whereas in those more concentrated than 400 mosmol l-1, the osmotic strength of the haemolymph parallels that of the medium, i.e. the larvae osmoconform. Over the full range of ext...