Chordotonal organ

This article or the following section is not adequately provided with supporting documents ( e.g. individual evidence ). Information without sufficient evidence could be removed soon. Please help Wikipedia by researching the information and including good evidence.

Chordotonal organs are sensory organs of insects that belong to the peripheral nervous system . These are tubular mechanoreceptors that act as internal stretching receptors ( proprioceptors ) and convey position information to the animal.

In the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster , these receptors are attached to the inside of the epidermis in two places . In the embryo , chordotonal organs are made up of three or five identical units called scolopidia. Each scolopidium consists of a total of four cells, a bipolar neuron and three additional cells, a cap cell , a ligament cell and a sheath cell . These are arranged like bar-like structures, attaching the neuron to the epidermis or enveloping it in order to protect it from contact with the hemolymph . In adult flies, each scolopidium has two or three neurons and several helper cells.

The hearing of Drosophila, the Johnston's organ , named after Christopher Johnston , who described it in 1855, is also a large chordotonal organ .

literature

• Richard Vogel : About the chordotonal organs in the root of the butterfly wing . Habilitation thesis Tübingen, Leipzig 1912.