Summary
The cold cell in the easily identified ‘mound-shaped’ sensillum on the 12th segment ofCarausius morosus' antennae responds to downward temperature (T) steps from about 15 °C with a sharp rise in impulse frequency (F). Responses to similar steps from higher initial temperatures are smaller (Figs. 1, 3, 4). As initialT increases from 16 °C to 31 °C, differential sensitivity to downward steps falls off by a factor of 27: to yield an average increase inF of 1 imp/s, steps down from 31 °C must increase by 1.7 °C; steps down from 16 °C, by only 0.06 °C (Fig. 5). Resolving power forT-steps at mid-range initial temperatures is about 0.7 °C, i.e. the probability that a single cold cell at average differential sensitivity will correctly discriminate between twoT steps 0.7 °C apart is 90% when the cell is presented with each step just once.
The same cold cell also displays a clear dependence on steadyt between 14 °C and 24 °C (Figs. 7, 8). The static discharge rate of a single cell at average differential sensitivity has a resolving power of about 0.9 °C for steadyT. — The static discharge is not affected by the amount of water vapor in the stimulating air (Fig. 9).
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Abbreviations
- F :
-
impulse frequency in impulses per second (imp/s)
- Pw :
-
partial pressure of water vapor in torr
- r :
-
correlation coefficient
- T :
-
temperature in °C
- ΔT :
-
step change inT
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Tichy, H., Loftus, R. Response characteristics of a cold receptor in the stick insectCarausius morosus . J. Comp. Physiol. 160, 33–42 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00613439
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00613439