The slit sense organs of spiders

Although there has been much dispute in the past concerning the structure and function of the slit sense organs it is highly probable that they are chemoreceptors somewhat analogous to the pore‐plate organs on the antennae of insects. The cuticular portion of a compound organ is made up of a number of more or less parallel slits in the outer cuticula. These slits are separated by thick laminae arranged as in a grid. A thin epicuticular membrane covers both laminae and slits between, while a thinner membrane is present at the inner ends of the slits. The hypodermal portion is composed of tall cells with a granular basal and a fibrillar distal cytoplasm. The sense cells are typical bipolar neurones, one for each slit of the organ. The distal sensory fiber traverses the fluid filled slit and ends at the epicuticula. It is never exposed directly to the outside. The structure of single slits is essentially similar to that of compound organs. In accordance with Schenk's well‐known system of nomenclature for analogous structures in insects the term sensilla tomosa is suggested for both. The results of this study in fifteen species from nine families indicate that these organs are the same in all spiders, and that they are adapted for the function of chemoperception.