Tobacco hornworm (Manduca sexta) caterpillars are able to regulate the water content of their body when fed on diets of markedly different water content. This regulation extends to the water content of food within the gut. Regulation of body water is achieved by adjusting the amounts of water lost with the faeces. The rectum is shown to be the principal site of water reabsorption from the faeces. The rate of rectal water absorption is shown to vary with the water content of the food and thus according to need. Water reabsorbed from the rectal contents is recycled and added to the contents of the midgut. The ultrastructural appearance of epithelial cells in the rectal wall is that expected of a fluid-transporting tissue. The ileum appears to play little or no part in water recycling.
JOURNAL ARTICLE|
01 January 1989
Water Balance in Manduca Sexta Caterpillars: Water Recycling From the Rectum
STUART E. REYNOLDS,
STUART E. REYNOLDS
1School of Biological Sciences, University of Bath, Claverton Down, Bath BA2 7AY, England
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KAREN BELLWARD
KAREN BELLWARD
1School of Biological Sciences, University of Bath, Claverton Down, Bath BA2 7AY, England
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STUART E. REYNOLDS
1School of Biological Sciences, University of Bath, Claverton Down, Bath BA2 7AY, England
KAREN BELLWARD
1School of Biological Sciences, University of Bath, Claverton Down, Bath BA2 7AY, England
Accepted:
06 Jul 1988
Online Issn: 1477-9145
Print Issn: 0022-0949
© 1989 by Company of Biologists
1989
J Exp Biol (1989) 141 (1): 33–45.
Article history
Accepted:
06 Jul 1988
Citation
STUART E. REYNOLDS, KAREN BELLWARD; Water Balance in Manduca Sexta Caterpillars: Water Recycling From the Rectum. J Exp Biol 1 January 1989; 141 (1): 33–45. doi: https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.141.1.33
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