Summary
The innervation of cerci of a desert burrowing cockroach, Arenivaga sp., was determined by horseradish peroxidase backfilling of the cercal nerve and histochemistry. The procedure yielded a high percentage of successful fills and in many cases every neuron filled completely, including dendrites and axons of less than one μm. The innervation of the cerci was found to be highly ordered. Upon entering the cercus, the cercal nerve splits into bilateral branches, one on each side of the midline. The nerves branch again at each segment to form fascicles of sensory neurons which innervate the trichobothria, sensilla chaetica and tricholiths, each with a single bipolar neuron. While the cell bodies of neurons are of similar dimensions, the dendrites to the tricholiths are much longer and terminate on the midline side of the sensilla socket where the tricholith shaft attaches.
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Hartman, H.B., Leander, B.W. Innervation of cockroach cercal receptors as revealed by horseradish peroxidase (Insecta, Blattodea). Zoomorphology 107, 77–80 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00312116
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00312116