The role of the frontal ganglion and corpora cardiaca/corpora allata complex in post-feeding weight loss in adult Heliothis zea

Abstract A post-feeding diuretic response has been observed in adult Heliothis zea (Boddie) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). 2-day-old starved adults which were allowed to feed to repletion on a 10% (w/v) sucrose solution lost 49.1% (females) and 85.8% (males) of the weight of the ingested meal during the first hour following feeding. Ligation between head and thorax or frontal ganglionectomy, when performed immediately following feeding, each resulted in a significant and permanent reduction in this normal weight-loss. Injection of homogenates of the corpora cardiaca/corpora allata (CC/CA) complex into non-ligated insects immediately after feeding also reduced significantly the post-feeding weight-loss, but this inhibition was transient and disappeared after 1 h. Dissection and weighing of the crop from either ligated, frontal ganglionectomized, or CC/CA-injected insects confirmed the crop as the predominant site of fluid retention in each case. We suggest that a soluble antidiuretic factor from the CC/CA acts in conjunction with the frontal ganglion to control the rate of crop emptying and subsequent diuresis by regulating the volume of ingested fluid that is passed into the haemolymph from the crop/midgut.