Summary
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1.
In lyriform organs of arachnids several innervated cuticular slits are closely arranged in parallel. The mechanical consequences of this arrangement were studied in model experiments with regard to their importance for the organ's stimulus conducting properties (Fig. 1).
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2.
Groups of parallel slits were cut into plexiglass disks. On these static pressure loads were applied from varying directions. The resulting deformation of the slits was measured in terms of compression and dilatation, respectively. It was compared to that of a model with only one slit.
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3.
Simple models with three or five slits of equal length: A slit's deformation is drastically reduced by the presence of neighbouring slits closely arranged in parallel. Differences between various slit areas and the effect of load direction on deformation are reduced as well. The peripheral slits of a group take up much more load than the intermediate slits. In large groups they are deformed even more than a single, isolated slit. Different areas of the same peripheral slit vary markedly with regard to the effect of load direction (Figs. 2a and 5).
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4.
More elaborate model with seven slits copying a lyriform organ on the spider leg tibia: Again considerable differences are found in the degree of deformation. It is positively correlated with both slit length and peripheral position of the slit within the group. The majority of slits is most compressed in that area where the dendrite attaches in the original receptor. This is not always the mid portion of the slit, however (Figs. 2b, c, 6 and 7).
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5.
According to previous studies compression is the adequate deformation of the slit leading to nervous activity. It is most effectively achieved by loads perpendicular to its long axis.Photoelastic experiments with model tibiae show that pressure stresses roughly perpendicular to the long axes of the slits have indeed to be expected under natural stimulus conditions. They also provide a basis for understanding topographical features pertinent to the majority of the lyriform organs on the spider leg: their proximity to a joint, their location on the lateral surface of the leg, and their orientation roughly parallel to the long leg axis (Figs. 4 and 8).
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6.
The main physiological consequences deduced from these model studies for a close parallel arrangement of slits are: a) a considerable enlargement of the range of stimuli accessible for sensory analysis at a specific site and b) a marked stimulus intensity fractionation by different slits within the same group.
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Supported by a grant of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft. Many thanks are due to Drs. H. Marwitz and E. Ficker of the Technische Universität München for generous help with the photoelastic experiments. Ing. K. Steinmaßl, Philips Company at München, kindly introduced us to strain gauge techniques. Mr. E. A. Seyfarth made valuable comments on the manuscript.
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Barth, F.G., Pickelmann, P. Lyriform slit sense organs. J. Comp. Physiol. 103, 39–54 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01380043
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01380043