Insect or Invertebrates Identification

[Richprins]

A leg hair?

[Lisbeth]

Tarsus?

[Klipspringer]

A leg hair?

Very good

It is actually a notch with a large stiff "hair" and probably a brush of small hairs in the notch.

Tarsus?

Sort of between tarsus and tibia, but it is on the tibia.


So ... we have a notch and a hairy or bristly device .... What does the beetle do with this organ?

[Lisbeth]

We found that each tibia of the tenebrionid beetle Zophobas atratus had a chordal elastic organ that tied the apodeme to the distal end of the tibia and assisted the pulled apodeme to return smoothly. The elastic body of the elastic organ consists of a bundle of more than 1000 thin fibrils (0.3–1.5 μm in diameter) with a hairy yarn-shaped structure made by assemblies of intricately interwoven microfibers.

[Klipspringer]

Lisbeth, that is all chineese/greek to me.


The "organ" of Richprins' beetle is entirely external and a handy device with simple mechanics. But usefull only for insects. Humans or spiders don't need this.


These structures look different for different species in this beetle family, but here is an example:

protibia.jpg (25.92 KiB) Viewed 152 times

[Richprins]

For smell!

[Klipspringer]

Not for smell.

Not for communication and not a sensory organ

[Richprins]

That leaves mating?

[Lisbeth]

To tickle the enemy until he dies from laughing

[Klipspringer]

Nope, but Lisbeth is closer


It is a comb-like structure