The high potassium and low sodium in the body fluid and tissues of a phytophagous insect, the silkworm Bombyx mori and the change before pupation
✍ Scribed by Tobias, Julian M.
- Publisher
- Wiley (John Wiley & Sons)
- Year
- 1948
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 301 KB
- Volume
- 31
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0095-9898
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
It has been known for some time that the haemolymph sodium content of certain insects is very small (Brecher, '29; Wigglesworth, '39 ; Bonk, '44), and that, in phytophagous insects, haemolymph sodium may be exceeded by the very large amount of potassium present (Bone, '44)-Such a situation is of great interest from several points of view (Tobias, ,48), but before one can freely speculate on its meaning more facts are needed. One of the most important of these has to do with the quantities of sodium and potassium in the solid tissues of such insects. These data have not heretofore been available. Therefore, appropriate studies have been begun on a preferably phytophagous insect, the grasshopper, Romalea microptera, and on a strictly phytophagous insect, the silkworm, Bombyx mori (in re dietary see Brues, '46; Essig, '42). This report deals with the potassium, sodium and water content of haemolymph serum, nerve cord and muscle in Romalea microptera, and of haemolymph serum, body wall, silk gland and reservoir, gut and shed skin of the last larval instar, whole pupa, shed pupal skin, cocoon and adult of Bombyx mori. 'The present investigation was aided in part by a grant from the Dr. Wallace C. and Clara A. Abbott Mcmorial Fund of the University of Chicago, and in part under contract between the Medical Division, Chemical Corpg, U. S. Army and the University of Chicago Toxicity Laboratory. Under terms of the contract the authors are free t o draw their own conclusions.