You wish to determine which organs function to remove waste products from the hemolymph (blood) of an insect. You do so by injecting a suspension of particulate dye particles into the abdominal cavity of an anesthetized cricket.Where will you find these dye particles 45 minutes later, after you euthanize and dissect the cricket?

Question

A.  in the urinary bladder
B.  in the nephridia
C.  in the antennal glands
D.  in the Malpighian tubules
E.  in the protonephridia
F.  in the nephrons of the kidneys

Clarify Question
What is the key concept addressed by the question?
What type of thinking is required?

Gather Content
What do you already know about insect physiology? What other information is related to the question?
 
Choose Answer
Given what you now know, what information is most likely to produce the correct answer?

Reflect on Process
Did your problem-solving process lead you to the correct answer? If not, where did the process break down or lead you astray? How can you revise your approach to produce a more desirable result?

Answer 1

D.  in the Malpighian tubules

Clarify Question
What is the key concept addressed by the question?
        · This question is asking about the pathway that removes waste from the body of an insect.
What type of thinking is required?
        · Apply level:
            o You are being asked to take what you already know and use, or apply, it to the waste removal mechanism of an insect.
 
Gather Content
What do you already know about insect physiology? What other information is related to the question?
        · Insects do not have blood as mammals do; they have hemolymph.
        · Hemolymph is a combination of circulatory fluid and extracellular fluid.
 
Choose Answer
Given what you now know, what information is most likely to produce the correct answer?
        · Insects do not have kidneys, nor do they have nephrons or protonephridia.
        · Antennal glands are present in some freshwater arthropods, but their function is to excrete excess water.
        · Insects do not have a bladder, as their nitrogenous waste is excreted through the alimentary canal.
        · Insects do utilize Malphigan tubules for the secretion of their waste products, so the dye particles should be expected to appear in the Malphigian tubules as they are processed out of the body.

Reflect on Process
Did your problem-solving process lead you to the correct answer? If not, where did the process break down or lead you astray? How can you revise your approach to produce a more desirable result?
        · Apply level:
            o Answering this question correctly depended on your ability to use waste removal in the insect body in a new situation. If you got an incorrect answer, did you remember that insects lack kidneys, and secrete their wastes into Malphigian tubules? Did you have trouble extending insect physiology to determine the correct answer?