Wing vein

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Naming of the wing veins of the insects according to the Comstock-Needham system .
Wing veins of the spotted meadow snake . In the two-winged species, only the front wings are developed, the rear pair of wings has receded into swinging arches.

A wing vein (from “ vein ”) is any transverse or longitudinal stiffening in the wing of insects . The wing veins usually form a dense network, the so-called wing veins or veins for short . The large longitudinal arteries ("wing veins") are hollow and contain blood ( hemolymph ) as well as a nerve and a tracheal branch . The transverse veins and the ends of the longitudinal veins are usually solid and have no cavity.

In many insects, the wing veins play an important role in the development of the still soft wings after hatching from the pupa or the exuvia of the last larval stage. Even after hardening ( sclerotization ), some of the veins are filled with hemolymph. For example, they supply the glands for the scented scales of butterflies . Nerves and tracheas are partially preserved and serve, among other things, to supply sensory organs on the wing surface. In lacewings there is a complete hearing organ ( tympanic organ ) in one of the anterior longitudinal arteries of the forewings . Male long-feeler terrors have particularly pronounced wing veins in the front wing, which are used to generate sound and form the stridulation organ and the associated resonance structures .

See also

swell