Experimental Observations on Coagulation of Insect Hemolymph

Abstract

Cellular agglutination and plasma gelation, as represented in the hemolymph coagulation of the larvae of Popillia japonica and Galleria mellonella appear to be separate and distinct phenomena which can occur independently or together in the same or in different species. The plasma clot is relatively stable once it is initiated, but its precursors or catalysts are sensitive, under appropriate conditions, to heat, freezing, ultrasonic waves, and a number of chemical agents. Because of the diverse nature of the various inhibitors, it is likely that the gelation is not a simple change in state nor an autonomous polymerization, but some type of catenary system probably quite different from that involved in the clotting of mammalian blood.