ABSTRACT
The use of flexible electrodes inserted into muscles has enabled the study of the flight motor pattern in almost unrestrained animals. The activity of corresponding muscles seems to be similar for the different species implicating a general plan for the flight motor pattern. Juvenile hormones may influence the ontogeny of the flight motor pattern in locusts. Muscle recordings demonstratered a typical flight motor pattern, although the rhythmic output was low compared with similar “aged” adults. S. C. Kinnamon et al. suggest that “octopamine acts on the thoracic ganglia to alter the level of excitation or effectiveness of synaptic transmission among central neurons, including those involved in producing the flight motor pattern.” Octopamine initiates a flight motor pattern in preparations which have been surgically treated and the pattern is similar to that of intact tethered animals. The output frequency remains in the range of 5 to 10 Hz in all larval instars.
