Malpighian tubule system

Stylised diagram of the last part of the insect's digestive tract showing malpighian tubule (orthopteran type)

The Malpighian tubule system is a type of excretory and osmoregulatory system found in some insects, myriapods, arachnids and tardigrades.

The system consists of branching tubules extending from the alimentary canal that absorbs solutes, water, and wastes from the surrounding hemolymph. The wastes then are released from the organism in the form of solid nitrogenous compounds and calcium oxalate. The system is named after Marcello Malpighi, a seventeenth-century anatomist.