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Control of the Ventral Diaphragm in an Insect

Abstract

THE control and origin of heart muscle activity present an unresolved problem in many groups of animals. The hearts of vertebrates and many invertebrates contract myogenically, but rate of beat is controlled by nerve fibres associated with the central nervous system. In the arthropod groups neurogenic hearts have been described in the Crustacea and Limulus1, and less completely in some insects2; but as pointed out by Beard3 no general pattern of control and origin of heart-beat has emerged in insects.

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GUTHRIE, D. Control of the Ventral Diaphragm in an Insect. Nature 196, 1010–1012 (1962). https://doi.org/10.1038/1961010b0

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