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A grasshopper has an open circulatory system, where hemolymph moves through interconnected sinuses or hemocoels, spaces surrounding the organs. Arthropod blood does not carry hemoglobin.

Hemolymph, or haemolymph, is a fluid in the open circulatory system of arthropods (e.g. spiders, crustaceans such as crabs and shrimp, and insects such as stoneflies) and is analogous to the fluids and cells making up both blood and interstitial fluid (including water, proteins, fats, sugars, hormones, etc.) in vertebrates such as birds and mammals.[1] In addition, some non-arthropods such as molluscs possess a hemolymphatic circulatory system.

Hemolymph fills all of the interior (the hemocoel) of the animal's body and surrounds all cells. It contains hemocyanin, a copper-based protein that turns blue in color when oxygenated, instead of the iron-based hemoglobin in red blood cells found in vertebrates, thus giving hemolymph a blue-green color rather than the red color of vertebrate blood. When not oxygenated, hemolymph quickly loses its color and appears grey. The hemolymph of lower arthropods, including most insects, is not used for oxygen transport because these animals respirate directly from their body surfaces (internal and external) to air, but it does contain nutrients such as proteins and sugars.

Hemolymph can contain nucleating agents that confer extra cellular freezing protection. Such nucleating agents have been found in the hemolymph of insects of several orders, i.e., Coleoptera (beetles), Diptera (flies), and Hymenoptera.[2]



There are free-floating cells, the hemocytes, within the hemolymph. They play a role in the arthropod immune system. The immune system resides in the hemolymph. As the insect grows, the hemolymph works something like a hydraulic system, enabling the insect to expand segments before they are sclerotized.




This open system might appear to be inefficient compared to closed circulatory systems like those possessed by mammals, but the two have very different demands being placed on them. In vertebrates, the circulatory system is responsible for transporting oxygen to all the tissues and removing carbon dioxide from them. It is this requirement that establishes the level of performance demanded of the system. The efficiency of the vertebrate system is far greater than is needed for transporting nutrients, hormones, and so on, whereas in insects, exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide occurs in the tracheal system. Hemolymph plays no part in the process in most insects. In a few insects living in low-oxygen environments, there are hemoglobin-like molecules that bind oxygen and transport it to the tissues. Therefore, the demands placed upon the system are much lower. Some arthropods and most molluscs possess the copper-containing hemocyanin, however, for oxygen transport.

Specialist uses[edit]

In some species, hemolymph has other uses than just being a blood analogue. Some species of insect are able to autohaemorrhage when they are attacked by predators.[3] Queens of the ant genus Leptanilla are fed with hemolymph produced by the larvae.[4] On the other hand, Pemphigus spyrothecae utilize hemolymph as an adhesive, allowing the species to stick to predators and subsequently attack the predator; it was found that with larger predators, more aphids were stuck after the predator was defeated.


  1. ^ Wyatt, G. R. (1961). "The Biochemistry of Insect Hemolymph". Annual Review of Entomology 6: 75. doi:10.1146/annurev.en.06.010161.000451.  edit
  2. ^ Zachariassen, K. E.; Baust, J. G.; Lee Jr, R. E. (1982). "A method for quantitative determination of ice nucleating agents in insect hemolymph". Cryobiology 19 (2): 180–184. doi:10.1016/0011-2240(82)90139-0. PMID 7083885.  edit
  3. ^ Bateman, P. W.; Fleming, P. A. (2009). "There will be blood: Autohaemorrhage behaviour as part of the defence repertoire of an insect". Journal of Zoology 278 (4): 342. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.2009.00582.x.  edit
  4. ^ Genus Leptanilla Australian Ants Online

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