Content
- What is tracheal breathing?
- Insect tracheal breathing
- Tracheal respiration in insects and gas exchange
- Tracheal breathing in aquatic animals
- Insect tracheal respiration through btracheal gills
- Tracheal respiration of insects through andfunctional spiracles
- Insect tracheal respiration through bphysical branch
- Tracheal Breathing: Examples
Like vertebrates, invertebrate animals also need to breathe to stay alive. The respiratory mechanism of these animals is very different, for example, from mammals or birds. The air does not enter through the mouth as is the case with the groups of animals mentioned above, but through openings distributed throughout the body.
This one breath type occurs especially in insects, the group of animals with the most species on planet Earth, and that's why in this PeritoAnimal article, we'll explain what it is tracheal breathing in animals and we'll give some examples.
What is tracheal breathing?
THE tracheal breathing is a type of respiration that occurs in invertebrates, specifically insects. When animals are small or need little oxygen, it enters the animal by diffusion through the skin, that is, in favor of the concentration gradient, and without the need for an effort on the part of the animal.
In larger insects or at times of greater activity, such as during flight, the animal will need to ventilate so that air enters its body through pores or spiracles on the skin, which lead to structures called tracheolas, and from there to the cells.
The pores may always be open, or some of the body's spiracles may open, so that the abdomen and chest will be pumping, being that when compressed, they will let air in, and when they expand, they will let air out through the spiracles. During flight insects can use these muscles to pump air through the spiracles.
Insect tracheal breathing
The respiratory system of these animals is very developed. It is formed by tubes filled with air that branch throughout the animal's body. The end of the branches is what we call the tracheola, and its function is to distribute oxygen throughout the body's cells.
The air reaches the tracheal system through the spiracles, pores that open on the surface of the animal's body. From each spiracle a tube branches, becoming thinner until it reaches the tracheolae, where the gas exchange.
The final part of the tracheola is filled with fluid, and only when the animal is more active is this fluid displaced by air. In addition, these tubes are interconnected with each other, they have longitudinal and transverse interconnections, which are known as anastomosis.
Likewise, in some insects it is possible to observe air sacs, which are the enlargement of these tubes and can occupy a large percentage of the animal, being used to boost air movement.
Tracheal respiration in insects and gas exchange
That breath type have a system discontinuous. The animals keep their spiracles closed, so that the air that will be in the tracheal system is what will go through the gas exchange. The amount of oxygen contained in the animal's body decreases and, on the contrary, the amount of carbon dioxide increases.
Then the spiracles start to open and close continuously, causing a fluctuation and the output of some carbon dioxide. After this period, the spiracles open and all the carbon dioxide comes out, thus restoring oxygen levels.
Meet 12 animals that breathe through their skin in this article by PeritoAnimal.
Tracheal breathing in aquatic animals
An insect that lives in water cannot open its spiracles inside it, because its body would fill with water and it would die. In these cases, there are different structures for gas exchange:
Insect tracheal respiration through btracheal gills
These are gills that function similarly to the gills of fish. The water enters and only the oxygen in it passes to the tracheal system, which will deliver the oxygen to all cells. These gills can be found on the outer, inner area of the body, at the back of the abdomen.
Tracheal respiration of insects through andfunctional spiracles
They are spiracles that can open or close. In the case of mosquito larvae, they remove the final part of the abdomen from the water, open the spiracles, breathe and return to the water.
Insect tracheal respiration through bphysical branch
In this case, there are two types:
- Compressible: the animal rises to the surface and catches an air bubble. This bubble acts as a trachea, and the animal is able to draw oxygen from the water through it. The carbon dioxide that the animal will be producing can easily be passed into the water. If it swims a lot or sinks deeper, the bubble will be under a lot of pressure and get smaller and smaller, so the animal will have to emerge to get a new bubble.
- Incompressible or plastron: This bubble will not change size, so it may be undefined. The mechanism is the same, but the animal has millions of hydrophobic hairs in a very small region of its body, which causes the bubble to remain closed in the structure and, therefore, it will never shrink.
Did you know there are lung fish? That is, they breathe through their lungs. Learn more about this type of breathing in this PeritoAnimal article.
Tracheal Breathing: Examples
One of the animals you can easily see in nature is the water scribe (Gyrinusnatator). This little water beetle breathes through a physical gill.
You mayflies, also aquatic insects, during their larval and juvenile stages, breathe through tracheal gills. When they reach the adult state, they leave the water, lose their gills and start to breathe in the trachea. The same goes for animals like mosquitoes and dragonflies.
Grasshoppers, ants, bees and wasps, like many other terrestrial insects, maintain a air tracheal breathing throughout life.
If you want to read more articles similar to Tracheal Breathing: Explanation and Examples, we recommend that you enter our Curiosities section of the animal world.