Oxygen supply and limiting oxygen pressures in an insect larva.

Larvae of the moth, Carpocapsa saltitans, demonstrate a diurnal activity pattern of rhythmic twitching which, under conditions of controlled light and temperature, is characterized by a predictable frequency and regularity. The twitching activity is shown to be sensitive to the partial pressure of environmental oxygen, and it ceases altogether at a particular PO2 called 'critical'. Use is made of the 'critical' PO2 in normobaric and hypobaric conditions to deduce the roles of diffusion and convection in the larval oxygen transport mechanisms; and also as a value for the total decrement of PO2 from ambient air to mitochondria, in order to evaluate predicted values based on calculations of resistance to oxygen flow. For this latter study 'porosity' of the larva and the seed pod in which it is normally housed was inferred from measured rates of water vapor loss, and oxygen uptake rates of the larvae were measured by the manometric technique of Warburg. Applying these data to a model system the conclusion was reached that almost the total resistance to oxygen flow is at the spiracle.