Physiology and central projection of auditory receptor cells in the prothoracic ganglion of three closely related species of bushcrickets (Tettigoniidae, insecta)

Abstract

AbstractA comparative study was made of the projection patterns of functionally and morphologically identified auditory receptor cells of the complex tibial organ in the forelegs of three closely related Decticine species. A combined recording and staining technique was used, with subsequent histological examination and morphometric measurements. Adult males and females of the species Psorodonotus illyricus, Decticus albifrons, and Decticus verrucivorus, were chosen for this investigation. No species‐specific differences were found in the projection patterns of receptor cells that belonged to the same or similar functional classes in the three species. The cells also occupied the same target areas within the neuropile. A significant overlapping of the projections of the different receptor cells within the neuropile of the anterior ring tract (aRT) was revealed, in particular of those cells that were tuned to characteristic frequencies within similar frequency bands. © 1993 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.