Post-eclosion diuresis in adult Heliothis zea |
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| Authors: | DAVID W BUSHMAN ASHOK K RAINA JUDD O NELSON |
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| Institution: | Department of Entomology, University of Maryland, College Park;Insect Chemical Ecology Laboratory, Agricultural Research Service, USDA, Beltsville;Agricultural Biotechnology Center of the Maryland Biotechnology Institute, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland |
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| Abstract: | ABSTRACT. The marked weight loss that follows adult eclosion in Heliothis zea (Boddie) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) was found to be the result of diuresis. This diuretic weight loss amounted to 18.2% of the emergence weight in females and 22.5% in males. Ligation between head and thorax immediately following emergence resulted in a significant reduction in this weight loss. Injection of homogenates of brain (BR) or suboesophageal ganglion (SOG) partially restored the weight loss in ligated insects, indicating potential neurohormonal regulation of this phenomenon.
Because injection of homogenates of nervous and neuroendocrine tissues other than BR and SOG did not result in increased weight loss over controls, the activity present in BR and SOG was probably a tissue-specific phenomenon. We speculate that a factor at least partially responsible for the enhanced diuretic weight loss is present in the fused BR/SOG. |
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| Keywords: | Diuresis eclosion behaviour Heliothis zea neurohormone |
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