Osmoregulation and excretion

Abstract

Cockroaches can be viewed as generalists, capable of thriving under conditions where food resources are limited; the terrestrial habitat in which they live may be subject to great variation. A considerable amount of general information on these insects attesting to this view has already been well documented (Cornwell, 1968). Detailed studies of certain species have provided information regarding the physiological parameters under which they may successfully function. These investigations have led to discoveries which have provided workers with new facts that must now be developed into a working hypothesis describing the processes that are involved in maintaining homeostasis. For example, recent work has indicated that water conservation appears to involve changes in substrate metabolism, tissue exchanges of solute materials, ion exchanges with stored urates and excretory processes, all of which are quite complex. These activities appear to be well orchestrated by mechanisms which are as yet unclear.