Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hello
i was wondering how a insects digestion works and if there is any information relating pH to effectiveness of digestion or defication.
I am conducting research involving pH levels 5,6,8,9 and i was wondering if this should have a significant role in the digestion of these insects or insects in general.

Hi,

Here are some relevant webpages describing cockroach digestive systems:

http://www.tutorvista.com/biology/diges ... -cockroach

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/article ... 3-0043.pdf

http://books.google.com/books?id=YYs9AA ... hes&f=true

http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream ... 000855.pdf

http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream ... 000855.pdf

These resources may help give you a general background. I hope they help.

Best regards,

Barrett L Tomlinson