Functional Role of Dragonfly Legs before and after Wing Formation: Rearrangement of Coordinatory Relationships

摘要

We report here our studies of the characteristics of the structural-functional organization of the leg apparatus of the dragonfly Aeshna grandis, in larvae of the final instar, whose legs have a locomotor function, and in adult winged individuals (imagoes), whose legs have lost their locomotor function and are used mainly as traps to catch prey in the air. Neither the shape nor the proportions of individual leg segments in imagoes were significantly different from those in larvae, and all changes in the functional role of the legs in imagoes occur as a result of changes in the mechanisms controlling the functioning of the leg muscles and the corresponding rearrangements in coordinatory relationships. These rearrangements, as evidenced by the data reported here, affect the mechanisms generating motor commands, the appearance of a tight correlation in the operation of the wing muscles and the leg apparatus, and various others. These mechanisms are discussed.