The tracheal system in the stick insect prothorax and prothoracic legs: Homologies to Orthoptera and relations to mechanosensory functions

Abstract

Arthropod respiration depends on the tracheal system running from spiracles at the body surface through the body and appendages. Here, three species of stick insects (Carausius morosus, Ramulus artemis, Sipyloidea sipylus) are investigated for the tracheae in the prothorax and foreleg. The origin of the tracheae from the mesothoracic spiracle that enter the foreleg is identified: five tracheae originate from the mesothoracic spiracle, of which two enter the foreleg (supraventral trachea, trachea pedalis anterior). These two tracheae run separately through the leg to the femur-tibia joint where they fuse, but in the proximal tibia split again into two tracheae. The leg tracheae in stick insects are homologous to those in Tettigoniidae (bushcrickets). Stick insects have two chordotonal organs in the proximal tibia (subgenual organ and distal organ) which locate dorsally of the leg trachea. The tracheal system shows no adaptation specific to the propagation of airborne sound, like enlarged spiracles or tracheal volumes. Tracheal vesicles form in the tibia proximally to the mechanosensory organs, but no tracheal sacks or expansions occur at the level of the sensory organs that could mediate the detection of airborne sound or amplify substrate vibrations transmitted in the hemolymph fluid. Rather, the morphological characteristics indicate a respiratory function.