Where quantitative methods have been applied to the study of insect digestion, enzyme activity has generally been shown to increase after feeding, often with change in location of maximum enzyme concentration (Schlöttke, 1937 Or-c ; Duspiva, 1939; Day & Powning, 1949; Fisk & Shambaugh, 1952). The most marked responses described by these authors occur in carnivorous and blood-sucking insects, and to some extent this supports the view put forward on histological grounds by Haseman (1910), that discontinuous secretion is associated with the carnivorous habit of taking discrete meals.

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