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A comparative study of neck muscle motor neurons in a cricket and a locust
Author(s) -
Honegger HansWilli,
Altman Jennifer S.,
Kien Jenny,
MüllerTautz Rosemarie,
Pollerberg Elisabeth
Publication year - 1984
Publication title -
journal of comparative neurology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.855
H-Index - 209
eISSN - 1096-9861
pISSN - 0021-9967
DOI - 10.1002/cne.902300404
Subject(s) - schistocerca , cricket , biology , locust , anatomy , motor neuron , suboesophageal ganglion , motor nerve , mechanoreceptor , orthoptera , desert locust , ganglion , ventral nerve cord , neuroscience , nervous system , spinal cord , sensory system , zoology , botany
The gross morphology of the neck muscles of a cricket ( Gryllus campestris ) and their innervation are described and compared with a locust ( Schistocerca gregaria ) (Figs. 1,2). The motor neurons innervating the neck muscles were stained in crickets and locusts with cobalt chloride introduced via the nerve endings in the muscle. The two species show overall similarities, not only in position of the neck motor neurons in suboesophageal, prothoracic, and mesothoracic ganglia (Table 1) but also in motor neuron morphology (Figs. 4–12). However, muscle 60 in the cricket is innervated by a unique motor neuron with its axon in prothoracic nerve 3, instead of sharing motor neurons in suboesophageal nerve 8 and mesothoracic nerve 1 with muscle 59, as in locust. Muscle 62 has the same attachments and innervation with similar motor neurons in cricket and locust but a different mechanical function in the two species. The findings are discussed with respect to possible segmental homologies and to the origins of the muscles as either dorso‐ventral or longitudinal. As several muscles share the same motor neurons, we suggest that neck muscle function be described in terms of “behavioural units of action”.