Influence of diet composition on feeding and water excretion by the tsetse fly, Glossina morsitans

Abstract

Adult Glossina morsitans fed on aqueous salt solutions containing phagostimulant ATP in an in vitro feeding system gave an optimal feeding response only over a narrow pH range equivalent to that of vertebrate blood. There was much less discrimination on the basis of molar concentration. The rate and extent of water excretion by the fly was found to depend on the concentration of Na + ions in the food medium: an active transport mechanism is indicated which enables water to pass from the meal through the anterior midgut wall and into the haemocoele. A favourable osmotic gradient assisted water transport in the presence of Na + ions: the system could not operate efficiently in the presence of Na + ions if the osmotic pressure of the food medium was higher than that of vertebrate blood, nor could it operate efficiently in any solution lacking Na + ions. Normal transfer of a meal from the crop to the anterior midgut occurred only when the food medium was isotonic with vertebrate blood or in the presence of Na + ions if hypotonic. Normal transfer of isotonic solutions was prevented in the presence of excess K + ions, and hypertonic solutions were not transferred normally even in the presence of Na + ions. Thus the rate of water excretion was reduced. Tsetse flies fed on blood in an in vitro feeding system excreted water at a significantly lower rate than flies fed on a living animal. Evidence suggests that this is due to a combined effect of changes in viscosity, effective ionic composition, and osmotic pressure, upon the normal rate and extent of food uptake and manipulation of the meal prior to digestion. The implications of this are discussed in terms of future developments of in vitro feeding techniques for haematophagous insects.