Skip to main content
Log in

Anatomy of equilibrium receptors and cerci of the burrowing desert cockroach Arenivaga (Insecta, Blattodea)

  • Published:
Zoomorphology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Summary

The anatomy of the cerci of a burrowing desert cockroach, Arenivaga sp., with particular emphasis on equilibrium receptors was studied by light and scanning electron microscopy. Each cercus has two parallel rows of pendulous equilibrium receptors called tricholiths; the rows are parallel to the long axis of the cercus. The cerci and rows of tricholiths are orthogonally positioned with respect to the long axis of the insect at the posterior end of the abdomen and rotated laterally by about 25° from the horizontal plane. Tricholiths of each row are inserted in their sockets toward the midline of the cercus and their elliptical attachment to the gasket is parallel to the long axis of the cercus. The combination of these anatomical features constrains tricholith movements to 90° from the long axis of each cercus and accounts for the physiological findings that (1) interneurons receiving afference from tricholiths are maximally sensitive to displacements of the insect at 45°, 135°, 225°, and 315°, and (2) interneurons receiving input from the lateral rows respond to smaller displacements than those driven by medial rows (Walthall and Hartman 1981). First instar cockroaches have only one tricholith on each cercus. Subsequent molts result in the addition of tricholiths, usually paired. After six molts, the adult female bears six pairs; the adult male seven pairs of tricholiths. The additional afference is presumably required to drive the increasingly larger interneurons.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Berlese A (1909) Gli Insetti. Societa Editrice Libraria Vol. 1, Mailand

  • Bernays EA, Cook AG, Padgham DE (1976) A club-shaped hair found on the first-instar nymphs of Schistocerca gregaria. Physiol Ent 1:3–13

    Google Scholar 

  • Bischof HJ (1974) Verteilung und Bewegungsweise der keulenförmigen Sensillen von Gyllus bimaculatus. Biol Zentralbl 93:449–457

    Google Scholar 

  • Bischof HJ (1975) Die keulenförmigen Sensillen auf den cerci der Grille Gryllus bimaculatus als Schwererezeptoren. J Comp Physiol 98:277–288

    Google Scholar 

  • Carpenter D, Henneman E (1966) A relation between the threshold of stretch receptors in skeletal muscle and the diameter of their axons. J Neurophysiol 29:353–368

    Google Scholar 

  • Fraenkel SG, Gunn DL (1961) The orientation of animals (kinesis, taxes and compass reactions) Dover Publications, New York, USA

    Google Scholar 

  • Gaffal KP, Tichy H, Theib J, Seelinger G (1975) Structural polarities in mechanosensitive sensilla and their influence on stimulus transmission (Arthropoda). Zoomorphologie 82:79–103

    Google Scholar 

  • Gnatzy W (1973) Die Feinstruktur der Fadenhaare auf den Cerci von Periplaneta americana. Verh Dtsch Zool Ges 66:37–42

    Google Scholar 

  • Gnatzy W (1976) The ultrastructure of the thread-hairs on the cerci of the cockroach Periplaneta americana L.: the intermoult phase. J Ultrastruct Res 645:124–134

    Google Scholar 

  • Gnatzy W, Schmidt K (1971) Die Feinstruktur der Sinneshaare auf den Cerci von Gryllus bimaculatus Deg. (Saltatoria, Gryllidae). Z Zellforsch 122:190–209

    Google Scholar 

  • Hartman HB, Leander BW (1987) Innervation of cockroach cercal receptors as revealed by horseradish peroxidase. Zoomorphology 107:77–80

    Google Scholar 

  • Hartman HB, Walthall WW, Bennett LP, Stewart RR (1979) Giant interneurons mediating equilibrium reception in an insect. Science 205:503–505

    Google Scholar 

  • Hsü F (1938) Etude cytologique et comparee sur les sensilla des insects. Cellule 47:1–60

    Google Scholar 

  • Nicklaus R (1969) Zur Funktion der keulenförmigen Sensillen auf den Cerci der Grillen. Verh Dtsch Zool Ges 32:393–398

    Google Scholar 

  • Roth LM, Slifer EH (1973) Spheroid sense organs on the cerci of polyphagid cockroaches (Blattaria: Polyphagidae). Int J Insect Morphol Embryol 2:13–24

    Google Scholar 

  • Schmidt K, Gnatzy W (1971) Die Feinstruktur der Sinneshaare auf den Cerci von Gryllus bimaculatus Deg. (Saltatoria, Gryllidae) II. Die Häutung der Faden-und Keulenhaare. Z Zellforsch 122:210–226

    Google Scholar 

  • Sihler H (1924) Die Sinnesorgane an den Cerci der Insekten. Zool Jahrb Anat Ontog Tiere 45:519–580

    Google Scholar 

  • von Rath O (1888) Über die Hautsinnesorgane der Insekten. Z Wiss Zool Abt A 46:413–454

    Google Scholar 

  • Walthall WW, Hartman HB (1981) Receptors and giant interneurons signaling gravity orientation in the cockroach Arenivaga. J Comp Physiol 142:359–369

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Hartman, H.B., Bennett, L.P. & Moulton, B.A. Anatomy of equilibrium receptors and cerci of the burrowing desert cockroach Arenivaga (Insecta, Blattodea). Zoomorphology 107, 81–87 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00312117

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00312117

Keywords

Navigation