Summary
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1.
Action potentials of the mesothoracic tympanic organ's two receptor units (“Al” and “A2”) were recorded extracellularly. The impulse activity of both receptor units rises beyond “resting activity” when stimulated by airborne sound.
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2.
The time course of the excitation of both receptor units appears to be phasic-tonic (Fig. 4).
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3.
The influence of stimulus intensity and its time course on the excitation of both receptor units was studied (Figs. 5–8).
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4.
The threshold curves of the receptor units “Al” and “A2” for airborne sound were determined in the frequency range between 0.3 to 20 kHz. The two receptor units differ. Receptor unit “Al” shows a distinct threshold minimum, whereas the threshold curve of the less sensitive receptor units “A2” appears more flat (Fig. 9).
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5.
The threshold curves of the receptor units on the left body side differ from those on the right. The threshold minimum of unit “Al” left is absolutely lower than that of “Al” right and lies at higher frequencies (Fig. 10).
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6.
As observed under the light microscope, vibrations of the organ's base and bulb differ from one side of the body to the other (Fig. 11).
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7.
Removing the bulb influences the mode of oscillation of the base as well as the threshold curves of the receptor units.
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8.
A hypothesis is proposed regarding the function of integumentary structures on the membrane in stimulus transformation.
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Herrn Prof. Dr. D. Burkhardt danke ich für die Betreuung und Unterstützung bei der Anfertigung dieser Arbeit, Frau Dr. Ingrid de la Motte und Herrn Priv.-Doz. Dr. B. Darnhofer-Demar für die kritische Durchsicht des Manuskripts, der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft für finanzielle Unterstützung
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Prager, J. Das mesothorakale Tympanalorgan vonCorixa punctata Ill. (Heteroptera, Corixidae). J. Comp. Physiol. 110, 33–50 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00656780
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00656780