[3.0013] ACCESSORY PULSATING ORGANS IN THE LEGS OF Gelastocoris oculatus (Fabricius) (Heteroptera: Gelastocoridae) l Halkard E. Mackey, Jr. 2 During a survey of the morphology of Gelastocoris oculatus, pulsating organs used for blood circulation were found in each leg of the adult and the fifth instar nymph. Earlier nymphs were not examined. These organs were seen in the tibia near the point of its articulation with the femur (Fig. 1). Pulsating organs are apparently widespread in Heteroptera especially in Pyrrhocoridae and Hydrocorisae (Poisson, 1951). Locy (1884a) made numerous observations of their presence in species of Gerris, Corixa, Notonecta, Belostoma, Perthostoma (Nepidae), and Ranatra (Nepidae). Wigglesworth (1965) described a variety of pulsating organs in insects and included a figure of the pulsating organ in the leg of Notonecta sp. For those insects studied by Locy (1884a and 1884b), except for Ranatra sp., the pulsating organ of the prothoracic leg occurs near the articulation of the tibia and tarsus, while in the other legs its location is near the articulation of the femur and tibia. Brocher (1909), in studies of species of Ranatra, Nepa, Corixa, Notonecta, and Naucoris, noted the presence of pulsating organs in similar positions. Wigglesworth (1965) also figured the pulsating organ in the prothoracic leg of Notonecta sp. as near the articulation of the tibia with the tarsus. Locy (1884a) gave the location of the pulsating organs in Ranatra sp. as near the articulation of the tibia and femur in all legs, as did Hamilton (1931) in Nepa cinerea. Presswalla and George (1936) stated that the accessory pulsating organs occur in the tibia of all the legs of Sphaero-dema wsticum (Belostomidae). Brocher (1909) noted that in the nymphs of Notonecta sp., Locy (1884a) in the nymph of Belostoma sp., and Rawat (1939) in the last instar nymph of Ilycoris cimicoides (Naucoridae) that the pulsating 1 Portion of a dissertation for the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee. Accepted for publication February 9, 1970. 2 Department of Zoology and Entomology, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37916. Ent. News, Vol. 81: 111-113, 1970 1 1 1
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