fibers

[Jo]

Insect Malpighian (renal) tubules perform jobs analogous to the human kidney.

They purify the insect 'blood' of waste materials, excrete mainly uric acid, and eumelanin, a brown-black polymer used to encapsulate pathogens (pathogenic fungi, bacterias). (this could explain the black tar and fungi)

They are also major immune tissues, and they also detoxify many compounds, like a human liver.

In Drosophila (fruit fly), there are 4 Malpighian tubules (2 on each side of the animal). They are tiny (2 mm long, 35 micrometres wide, (consistent with Haverty's findings) and contain around 150 cells.). In some species the Malpighian tubules are coiled up networks and are longer than 2mm, like this Hemiptera:



Malpighian tubules contain erythrocytic forms (basic cells) called hemocytes. These are basically insect 'blood' cells.

Carnicom talks about the cells he found having the ability to 'reconstitute' themselves. Hemocytes have this ability, called 'self-renewal ability'.

Check out the micrographs of gnat Hemocytes below, including Prohemocyte with sphere inside it and then the Granulocytes:



Here's Cliff's micrographs:

http://www.carnicom.com/blood1.htm

(His are much clearer, but possibly he is seeing Prohemocytes and granulocytes which could explain him querying finding artificial blood inside filaments.)

It is known that some species of fungus gnats have Malpighian tubules with a fluorescent factor involving 36 kDa luciferase, which co-incidentially is the protein Nocardioides sp. JS614 - a luciferase family protein Robert Smith stated as one of 5 suspects that fitted the protein profile, creating the glow from the morg filaments.

Last, but not least, Entomologists that dissect and remove the malpighian tubules from fly larvae, have remarked that they have 'waved around' after extraction (known as 'Peristalsis'):

(See page 392)
http://jcs.biologists.org/cgi/reprint/s2-69/275/385.pdf

Jo

[cynical]

Very interesting Jo...

Keep up your incredible research!

[posey]

Yup, they are in my environment. Others have stated that too.

I don't think they all come from me because I have seen one stuck on the edge of countertop 2 days ago and it had a big stretch of white cotton-like first and then the fibers sprawled out from it.

I also see them attached to wooden dining table and chairs.

One thing I have really noticed lately and don't know if this has been mentioned her or not. I see dust bunnies, dust bunnies like I never saw in my life. All over. I do not know where this is coming from. Out od fear, I have not taken a close look at them. I don't even want to know "for sure" if they are "M: related or not.

[cynical]

There is some interesting information in this article.

Malpighian tubule system - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[cynical]

Arachnocampa - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

hmmm

Sorry if already covered.