RASCON, B.*; HENRY, J.R.; HARRISON, J.F.; FEZZAA, K.; LEE, W-K.; SOCHA, J.J.; Arizona State University; Arizona State University; Arizona State University; Argonne National Laboratory; Argonne National Laboratory: Peering inside the insect thorax: an examination of thoracic autoventilation in live insects using synchrotron x-rays

Resting insects primarily ventilate through diffusion and abdominal pumping, while many flying insects cope with increased oxygen demands by utilizing thoracic autoventilation, in which wing movements cause volume changes in the thorax that ventilate thoracic air sacs. Measurement of autoventilation is difficult and has only been performed on dead grasshoppers and dragonflies where convective air movement was induced by mechanical movement of the wings to simulate flight. However, synchrotron phase-enhanced x-ray imaging permitted us to visualize compression of air sacs between major dorsoventral flight muscles in tethered, flying Schistocerca americana grasshoppers and Pachidiplax longipennis dragonflies. This method provides a new and exciting method of quantifying thoracic autoventilation in a live insect during flight. This research was partially funded by NSF IOB – 0419704 awarded to JFH.