Open AccessThe climbing organ of an insect, Rhodnius prolixus (Hemiptera; Reduviidœ)
Author(s) -
J. D. Gillett,
V. B. Wigglesworth
Publication year - 1932
Publication title -
proceedings of the royal society of london. series b, containing papers of a biological character
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2053-9185
pISSN - 0950-1193
DOI - 10.1098/rspb.1932.0061
Subject(s) - rhodnius prolixus , hemiptera , reduviidae , insect , biology , climbing , rhodnius , hymenoptera , zoology , anatomy , ecology
Adhesive or climbing organs are familiar structures in many groups of insects. Most commonly, as in Hymenoptera, Diptera and many Hemiptera, they take the form of empodia or pulvilli between the tarsal claws; in a few Hemiptera they occur at the lower end of the tibia (Weber, 1930), while in many Coleoptera and Orthoptera it is the ventral surface of the tarsal segments themselves which is specially modified (Dewitz, 1884). These structure are generally stated to be absent in the Reduviidæ, but one of us (Gillett, 1932) has recently observed a new type of climbing organ in the blood-sucking reduviid bug,Rhodnius prolixus stål. The object of the present paper is to describe the structure of this organ and to discuss its mode of action.