Abstract
Insects augment oxygen supply using convective transport during flight in two ways: with deforming tracheae by surrounding muscles movement (muscle pumping) and with contracting air sacs by exoskeleton movement (abdominal or thoracic pumping). However, because induced flow inside tracheae is difficult to measure, it is not known how the convective transport actually contributes. By comparison between direct measurement of oxygen partial pressure in a flight muscle based on electrochemical method and flight/ventilation activities in a bumblebee, Bumbus hypocrita hypocruta, a method was developed for estimating gas transport efficiency. Oxygen partial pressure, PO2, in the bee periodically fluctuated with discontinuous abdominal movement in normal air. While the PO2 strongly varied among individuals in normal air, the PO2 took a unique value in oxygen poor air (≤8%). By enhancing ventilation, the bee could respire in an oxygen poor atmosphere up to 2%. Furthermore, the bee could fly in an atmosphere of 6%, in which the PO2 decreased to 0.7%. Estimated efficiency of the gas transport increases with atmospheric oxygen concentration decreases.
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