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First published online January 16, 2009
Journal of Experimental Biology 212, 378-386 (2009)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2009
doi: 10.1242/jeb.024109

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Review

Neuroendocrine control of ionic homeostasis in blood-sucking insects

Geoffrey M. Coast

Birkbeck College, School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Malet Street, London, WC1E 7HX UK

e-mail: g.coast{at}bbk.ac.uk

Accepted 25 September 2008

The pioneering work of Simon Maddrell established that the rapid postprandial diuresis of the haematophagous insect Rhodnius prolixus is controlled by a diuretic hormone and demonstrated the role of the Malpighian tubules in meeting the volumic, osmotic and ionic challenges posed by an enormous blood meal. A number of diuretic and antidiuretic hormones that control secretion of primary urine by Malpighian tubules have now been identified, but little is known of the interplay between these hormones and those that regulate transport processes in the hindgut. This review therefore focuses on the control of ionic homeostasis in Rhodnius and mosquitoes, because primary urine is voided virtually unchanged during the rapid diuresis that follows a blood meal. At such times, the hindgut has a negligible impact on the volume and composition of the final urine, and neurohormones acting on the Malpighian tubules have a dominant role in the control of ionic homeostasis.

Key words: Rhodnius prolixus, Aedes aegypti, Anopheles gambiae, Malpighian tubule, diuresis, diuretic hormone, antidiuretic hormone

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