The climbing organ of an insect, Rhodnius prolixus (Hemiptera; Reduviidœ)

Abstract

Adhesive or climbing organs are familiar structures in many groups of insects. Most commonly, as in Hymenoptera, Diptera and many Hemiptera, they take the form of empodia or pulvilli between the tarsal claws; in a few Hemiptera they occur at the lower end of the tibia (Weber, 1930), while in many Coleoptera and Orthoptera it is the ventral surface of the tarsal segments themselves which is specially modified (Dewitz, 1884). These structure are generally stated to be absent in the Reduviidæ, but one of us (Gillett, 1932) has recently observed a new type of climbing organ in the blood-sucking reduviid bug, Rhodnius prolixus stål. The object of the present paper is to describe the structure of this organ and to discuss its mode of action.