Meeting Abstract

54.11  Tuesday, Jan. 6  FM, not AM: Gas exchange during rest and activity in non-flying insects LIGHTON, JRB; Univ. of Nevada, Las Vegas lighton@sablesys.com

Using the xeric tenebrionid beetle Cryptoglossa verrucosa as a model animal, and using a very fast-responding flow-through respirometry system, I show that the kinetics of gas exchange during activity are practically identical to those during the V (Ventilation) phase of the discontinuous gas exchange cycle or DGC, which is expressed only when the insect is completely inactive. This re-purposing of a fixed component of the DGC for use during locomotion has not previously been described. That maximal rates and frequencies of gas exchange during the cyclic bouts of convective ventilation characterizing the V phase of the DGC do not differ significantly from those found during activity has implications on the evolutionary origins of different gas exchange strategies among insects that will be explored.