Abstract
DURING my work with house flies (Musca domestica L.) I noticed one day that the bodyless heads of about ten flies all made drinking movements when their tongues came in contact with sugar water, but, probably due to quick desiccation of the œsophagus, no sugar water ever passed through this passage. After some time, the sucking movements became more vigorous and then rather suddenly stopped. In the case of flies with their tongues forcibly in touch with sugar water, the pumping activity of the fulcrum, even when the crop was full, never ceased. Only the contra pressure from the crop prevented a further intake. These experiments suggest that the sucking reaction takes place independently of the hunger- or thirst-condition of the fly.
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References
Thomsen, E., Videnskab. Medd. Dansk Naturh. Forening, 106 (1942).
See Wigglesworth, V. B., “The Principles of Insect Physiology” (1942).
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BOLWIG, N. Hunger-Reaction of Flies (Musca) and the Functions of their Stomatogastric System. Nature 169, 197–198 (1952). https://doi.org/10.1038/169197b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/169197b0
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