Diet and carbohydrase activities in three cockroaches, Calolampra elegans roth and princis, Geoscapheus dilatatus saussure and Panesthia cribrata saussure

Abstract 1. 1. Respiratory quotients of Calolampra elegans and Geoscapheus dilatatus are 0.99 ± 0.03 and 0.97 ± 0.08, respectively, suggesting that they metabolize carbohydrate. 2. 2. Cellulase, α-amylase and maltase, hemicellulase, and invertase were present in the foregut and midgut of these cockroaches and in Panesthia cribrata . In the midgut, cellulase and α-amylase activities are restricted to the anterior ventriculus. 3. 3. Rates of CO 2 production correspond to glucose being metabolized at 0.5 and 1 μmol/hr/g cockroach in C. elegans and G. dilatatus respectively. 4. 4. Activities are endogenous and apparently secreted regardless of diet as each activity alone could maintain the cockroach.