Journal article

Publication year: 2024

Journal: Insects

Volume number: 15

Issue number: 6

eISSN: 2075-4450

Open access status: Gold

DOI Link: https://doi.org/10.3390/insects15060392

Publisher: MDPI

Abstract: 
The subgenual organ complex of stick insects has a unique neuroanatomical organisation with two elaborate chordotonal organs, the subgenual organ and the distal organ. These organs are present in all leg pairs and are already developed in newly hatched stick insects. The present study analyses for the first time the morphology of sensory organs in the subgenual organ complex for a membrane connecting the two sensory organs in newly hatched insects (Sipyloidea chlorotica (Audinet-Serville 1838)). The stick insect legs were analysed following hatching by axonal tracing and light microscopy. The subgenual organ complex in first juvenile instars shows the sensory organs and a thin membrane connecting the sensory organs resembling the morphology of adult animals. Rarely was this membrane not detected, where it is assumed as not developed during embryogenesis. The connection appears to influence the shape of the subgenual organ, with one end extending towards the distal organ as under tension. These findings are discussed for the following functional implications: (1) the physiological responses of the subgenual organ complex to mechanical stimuli after hatching, (2) the influence of the membrane on the displacement of the sensory organs, and (3) the connection between the subgenual organ and distal organ as a possible functional coupling.

Harvard Citation style: Strauss, J. (2024) Functional Morphology of Leg Mechanosensory Organs in Early Postembryonic Development in the Stick Insect (Sipyloidea chlorotica), Insects, 15(6), Article 392. https://doi.org/10.3390/insects15060392

APA Citation style: Strauss, J. (2024). Functional Morphology of Leg Mechanosensory Organs in Early Postembryonic Development in the Stick Insect (Sipyloidea chlorotica). Insects. 15(6), Article 392. https://doi.org/10.3390/insects15060392