The Structure and Life-history of the Cockroach (Periplaneta orientalis): An Introduction to the Study of InsectsMiall, L. C. (Louis Compton)
Science
The Structure and Life-history of the Cockroach (Periplaneta orientalis): An Introduction to the Study of Insects
Miall, L. C. (Louis Compton)
Cockroaches
Not satisfied with mere observation by such means as these, of the
respiratory movements of Insects, the writer has also studied the
muscles concerned, and, in common with other physiologists (Faivre,
Barlow, Luchsinger, Dönhoff, and Langendorff), has examined the action
of the various nervous centres upon the respiratory organs. The results
at which he has arrived may be summarised as follows:--
1. There is no close relation between the character of the respiratory
movements of an Insect and its position in the zoological system.
Respiratory movements are similar only when the arrangement of the
abdominal segments, and especially when the disposition of the attached
muscles are almost identical. Thus, for example, the respiratory
movements of a Cockroach are different from those of other Orthoptera,
but resemble those of Hemiptera Heteroptera.
2. The respiratory activity of resting Insects is localised in the
abdomen. V. Graber has expressed this fact in a picturesque form, by
saying that in Insects the chest is placed at the hinder end of the
body.
3. In most cases the thoracic segments do not share in the respiratory
movements of an Insect at rest. Among the singular exceptions to this
rule is the Cockroach (_P. orientalis_), in which the terga of the
meso- and meta-thoracic segments perform movements exactly opposite in
direction to those of the abdomen. (See fig. 89, _Ms. th._, _Mt. th._)
[Illustration: Fig. 89.--Profile of Cockroach (_P. orientalis_). The
black surface represents the expiratory contour, while the inspiratory
is indicated by a thin line. The arrows show the direction of the
expiratory movement. _Ms. th._, mesothorax; _Mt. th._, metathorax.
Reduced from a magic-lantern projection.]
4. Leaving out of account all details and all exceptions, the
respiratory movements of Insects may be said to consist of alternate
contraction and recovery of the figure of the abdomen in two
dimensions--viz., vertical and transverse. During expiration the
diameters in question are reduced, while during respiration they revert
to their previous amounts. The transverse expiratory contraction is
often slight, and may be imperceptible. On the other hand, the vertical
expiratory contraction is never absent, and usually marked. In the
Cockroach (_P. orientalis_) it amounts to one-eighth of the depth of
the abdomen (between segments 2 and 3).
5. Three principal types of respiratory mechanism occur in Insects, and
these admit of further subdivision:--
(_a_) Sterna usually stout and very convex, yielding but little.
Terga mobile, rising and sinking appreciably. To this class belong
all Coleoptera, Hemiptera Heteroptera, and Blattina (Orthoptera).
[Illustration: Fig. 90.--Transverse section of Abdomen, Lamellicorn
Beetle. The position of the terga and sterna after an inspiration, is
indicated by the thick line; the dotted line shows their position after
an expiration, and the arrow marks the direction of the expiratory
movement.]
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