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First published online July 25, 2005
Journal of Experimental Biology 208, 3003-3012 (2005)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2005
doi: 10.1242/jeb.01747

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Ontogenetic effects on aerobic and anaerobic metabolism during jumping in the American locust, Schistocerca americana

Scott D. Kirkton^*, Jared A. Niska and Jon F. Harrison

Section of Organismal, Integrative, and Systems Biology, School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, PO Box 874601, Tempe, AZ 85287-4501, USA

^* Author for correspondence at present address: Division of Physiology, Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, 0623A, La Jolla, CA 92093-0623, USA (e-mail: skirkton{at}ucsd.edu)

Accepted 14 June 2005

Developing vertebrates increase both their locomotory power output and endurance due to ontogenetic improvements in anaerobic and aerobic metabolic capacities. Do similar patterns hold for insect locomotion, or do longer tracheal lengths create problems for oxygen delivery in older animals? We forced developing American locust grasshoppers (Schistocerca americana) to jump repeatedly and examined the effect of development on power output, endurance, lactate concentration, oxygen consumption and the oxygen sensitivity of jump performance. As previously shown, power outputs, relative leg lengths and leg cuticular content increased with age. A key finding of this study is that both lactate concentration and aerobic metabolic rate of the jumping muscle increase with age, explaining how the increased leg cuticular stiffness can result in increased power output. After two minutes of jumping, grasshoppers rely completely on aerobic ATP production. The rise in mass-specific, active aerobic metabolic rates with age indicates that problems with longer tracheae can be overcome; however, the reduced endurance, higher lactate concentrations and increased oxygen sensitivity of locomotory performance in older animals indicate that larger/older grasshoppers have smaller safety margins for oxygen delivery during hopping.

Key words: development, endurance, power output, lactate, oxygen consumption, grasshopper, Schistocerca americana

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