Figure 1.
Brightfield images of Cyrtolobus vau (Membracidae) showing the body in different stages of subsequent separation of different body parts.
A: Habitus, lateral view. B: Fore leg + head + “helmet” complex, lateral view, “helmet” is annotated with overlay. C: Posterior body parts after removal of fore leg + head + ”helmet” complex, lateral view, “T1 tergum” is annotated by overlay. D: Anterior margin of T2 tergum and T2 pectus with the “flexible cuticle of helmet joint” and the “pteralium”. E: T1, lateral view, PFE is annotated by overlay. Abbreviations: “T1t” – “T1 tergum” ( = median area of T2 tergum); “fchj” = “flexible cuticle of helmet joint” ( = intersegmental membrane between T1 and T2); “pt” = “pteralium” ( = prepectus); PFE = posterior flattened evagination of the pronotum.
Figure 2.
Brightfield images and CLSM micrograph of Cyrtolobus vau (Membracidae) showing the articulation between T1 and T2.
A: T2, anterior view, “T1 tergum” is annotated by overlay. B: T1, median view, white line marks the site of origin of the T1–T2 intersegmental membrane that separates the “helmet” for the bi-layered PFE and an anterior, mono-layered area. C: Dorsal and ventral layers of PFE with columnar structures corresponding to external pits. D: T1 and head, posterior view, the posterior part of PFE is removed. Abbreviations: 18 = 1st mesopleuro-mesonotal muscle; 19 = 1st phragmo-2nd phragmal muscle; dl = dorsal layer of PFE; hm = helmet muscle; ism1,2 = intersegmental membrane between T1 and T2; PFE = posterior flattened evagination of the pronotum; pre = prepectus; sp2 = 1st thoracic spiracle; “T1t” = “T1 tergum” = median area of T2 tergum; T2pec = T2 pectus; tr = trachea; vl = ventral layer of PFE.
Figure 3.
Brightfield images of Corythucha pallida (Tingidae) showing the similarity between the membracid and tingid body plan (compare with Figure 1A–E).
A: Habitus, lateral view. B: fore leg + head + T1 complex, lateral view, T1 is annotated with overlay. C: Posterior body parts after removal of fore leg + head + T1 complex, lateral view. D: T1, lateral view, PFE is annotated by overlay. Abbreviations: PFE = Posterior flattened evagination of the pronotum; pre = prepectus; T1 = 1st thoracic segment; T2t = T2 tergum.
Table 1.
Interpretation of anatomical structures in the membracid thorax by Prud'homme et al. [1] and by the present paper.
Figure 4.
Diagrammatic representation of the major body regions of a treehopper.
A: Interpreted by Prud'homme et al. [1]. B: Interpreted in the present study. Tagmata are separated (dashed arrows) to more clearly show anatomical structures.
Figure 5.
Micro-computed tomography of Stictocephala bisonia (Membracidae), showing the relationship between the “helmet” and other anatomical structures (volume renderings of μ-CT data).
A: Habitus, anterolateral view, left half of “helmet” removed. Head, T1 muscles, T2 tergum and “helmet” are annotated by overlays. B: Habitus, lateral view, “helmet” is annotated by overlay. Abbreviation: T2t = T2 tergum.
Figure 6.
Micro-computed tomography of Stictocephala bisonia (Membracidae) showing the relationships between skeletal structures and muscles in T1 (surface rendering of 3D-reconstrution).
A: Fore leg + head + “helmet” complex, posterior view, PFE in large part removed. B: T1, anterior view, PFE is annotated with overlay. C: Fore leg + head + “helmet” complex with T2 tergum, posterior view, “helmet” is PFE is partly removed. D: Detail of T1, anterior view. E: Fore leg + head + “helmet” complex, posterior view, posterior “helmet” is partly removed. Abbreviations: Numbers refer to muscles listed in Table S3; cx1 = procoxa; h = head; hm = helmet muscle; PFE = posterior flattened evagination of the pronotum; T2t = T2 tergum.
Figure 7.
Confocal laser scanning micrographs of hemipteran insects showing the articulation between the “helmet”, head and T2 tergum and the structure of PFE.
A, B: Ceresa sp. (Membracidae) A: Head-“helmet” and “helmet”-T2 tergum joints, sagittal section, anterior left, detail of Fig. 6B. B: Body, sagittal section, anterior to the left. C–E: Leptocoris trivittatus (Coreidae). C: Head-“helmet” and “helmet”-T1 joint, sagittal section, anterior to the left, detail of Fig. 6D; D: Body, sagittal section, anterior to the left. E: PFE, sagittal section; F: Atymna querci (Membracidae), 1st thoracic spiracle with pteralium ( = prepectus). Abbreviations: 16 = Occlusor muscle of 1st thoracic spiracle; 19 = 1st mesopleuro-mesonotal muscle; dl = dorsal layer; fb = fat body cell-like structures; h = head; ism1,2 = intersegmental membrane between T1 and T2; ismh,1 = intersegmental membrane between head and T1; PFE = posterior flattened evagination of T1; pre = prepectus; sp2 = 1st thoracic spiracle; T1 = 1st thoracic segment; T2p = T2 postnotum; T2t = T2 tergum; vl = ventral layer.
Figure 8.
Confocal laser scanning micrographs and brightfield image of hemipteran insects showing the separated layers of PFE in pharate adult and the ecdysial line of 5th instar.
A: Notonectidae sp., (Notonectidae) body, sagittal section, anterior to the left. B: PFE, sagittal section, anterior to the left. C: Platycotis vittata (Membracidae), head and T1 of 5th instar during ecdysis (please note the presence of red mark on the PFE of emerging adult). Abbreviations: ism1,2 = intersegmental membrane between T1 and T2; PFE = posterior flattened evagination of the pronotum; vl = ventral layer of PFE; dl = dorsal layer of PFE.
Figure 9.
Brightfield images of Leptoglossus fulvicornis (Coreidae) showing the relationship and articulation between T1 and T2.
A: Anterior half of body, dorsal view, anterior to the top. B: Anterior half of body, dorsal view, anterior to the top, fore leg + head + T1 complex detached from the posterior part of body. C: T1, posterior view. D: anterior margin of PFE, posterior view, detail of Fig. 7C. Abbreviations: cx1 = procoxa; PFE = posterior flattened evagination of the pronotum; T1 = 1st thoracic segment; T2t = T2 tergum; h = head; ism1,2 = intersegmental membrane between T1 and T2; ws = wing vein-like structure.