Insects’ spiracular fluttering increases oxygen uptake

Many insects’ breathing pores open and close rapidly during respiration; oxygen diffusion analysis suggests that this spiracle fluttering enables high oxygen intake and low water loss, according to a study publishing May 20, 2020 in the open-access journal

PLOS ONE

by H. Frederik Nijhout and Michael C. Reed of Duke University, USA, and Sean D. Lawley of the University of Utah, USA.

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Citation: Lawley SD, Reed MC, Nijhout HF (2020) Spiracular fluttering increases oxygen uptake. PLoS ONE 15(5): e0232450.

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Funding: National Science Foundation DMS-1814832 (SDL) DMS-RTG 1148230 (SDL) IOS-1562701 (HFN) IOS-1557341 (HFN, MCR) National Institutes of Health RO1 MH1 06563 (MCR, HFN).

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

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