...Shu-Ping Huang; Stav Talal; Amir Ayali; Eran Gefen ABSTRACT The significance of discontinuous gas-exchange cycles (DGC) in reducing respiratory water loss (RWL) in insects is contentious. Results from single-species studies are equivocal in their support of the classic ‘hygric hypothesis...

... becomes more complex if changes in temperature are considered. Fig. 5. Effects of temperature-induced changes in metabolic rate on measured respiratory characteristics. The change in burst volume (A), burst duration (B), discontinuous gas exchange cycle (DGC) period (C) and open phase CO 2...

... by The Company of Biologists Ltd 2014 DGC Control Ventilation Schistocerca gregaria Insects exchange respiratory gases with their environment through their elaborate network of gas-filled trachea. These are ramified into small-diameter tracheoles whose tips lie in close proximity...

... hyperventilation, or where ambient hypercapnia is in excess of haemolymph (>1% CO 2 ). In contrast, intratracheal O 2 levels fluctuated widely, but on average remained above 15% in normoxic (21% O 2 ) atmospheres. Decapitation caused the cockroaches to display discontinuous gas exchange cycles (DGCs...

...Natalie G. Schimpf; Philip G. D. Matthews; Robbie S. Wilson; Craig R. White SUMMARY The reasons why many insects breathe discontinuously at rest are poorly understood and hotly debated. Three adaptive hypotheses attempt to explain the significance of these discontinuous gas exchange cycles (DGCs...

...H. L. Contreras; T. J. Bradley SUMMARY The majority of scientific papers on the subject of respiratory patterns in insects have dealt with the discontinuous gas-exchange cycle (DGC). The DGC is characterized by the release of bursts of CO 2 from the insect,followed by extended periods of spiracular...

...John R. B. Lighton; Robbin J. Turner SUMMARY The discontinuous gas exchange cycle (DGC) of insects and other tracheate arthropods temporally decouples oxygen uptake and carbon dioxide emission and generates powerful concentration gradients for both gas species between the outside world...