Blood of grasshopper is made up of two components. Plasma and hemocytes.
(i) Plasma: Plasma is a colorless liquid. It does not contain hemoglobin. It contains protein, sugar, glycerol, amino acid, glucose, organic acid, ester, sterol, triglyceride, urea, uric acid, nitrogen, sodium, calcium, magnesium, potassium, phosphate, hemoxanthin, trihalose, diglyceride, tyrosine, trihalase etc. Dr. Siddiq Publications
(ii) Haemocytes or Blood Cells: Grasshopper blood contains only white blood cells or Haemocytes (15,000-60,000). It does not contain red blood cells. Haemocytes can be divided into three types. Prohemocyte, transitional hemocyte and giant hemocyte. Prohemocytes 6-9 mµ (23%), transitional hemocytes 9-19 mµ (68%) and giant hemocytes 19-23 mµ (9%).
Hemolymph function
(i) Haemolymph acts as a water reservoir. It contains 92% water.
(ii) It transports nutrients, minerals, hormonal secretions.
(iii) Maintains water balance in the body.
(iv) Wings help in circulation and shedding of shells.
(v) Hemocytes ingest microbes by the process of phagocytosis. As a result, disease is prevented.
(vi) Haemocytes help in blood clotting and wound healing.
(vii) Haemocytes secrete mucopolysaccharides to form connective tissue.