The muscular fibres of Insects present some important differences from the fibres just described. The nuclei are often found in the centre, and not on the surface of the fibres in both Insects and Crustacea. In both classes the fibrils are frequently subdivided into longitudinal strands, which have not been distinguished in Vertebrate muscles (Viallanes). The sarcolemma is often undeveloped. Lastly, Insects, like other Arthropoda, exhibit the remarkable peculiarity that not only their voluntary muscles, but all, or nearly all, the muscles of the body, even those of the digestive tube, are striated.[85]
General Arrangement of Insect Muscles.
The arrangement of the muscles in an Insect varies greatly according to situation and mode of action. Some of the abdominal muscles consist solely of straight parallel bundles, while the muscles of the limbs usually converge to tendinous insertions. In certain larvæ, where the segments show hardly any differentiation, the muscles form a sheet which covers the whole body, and is regularly segmented in correspondence with the exo-skeleton. As the movements of the body and limbs become more varied and more energetic, the muscles become grouped in a more complicated fashion, and the legs and wings of a flying Insect may be set in motion by a muscular apparatus almost as elaborate as that of a bird.
Muscles of the Cockroach.
The following short notes on the muscles of the Cockroach, aided by reference to the figures, will render the more noteworthy features intelligible. A very lengthy description, far beyond our space or the reader’s patience, would be required to explain in detail the musculature of the head, limbs, and other specialised regions.
Sternal Muscles of Abdomen.—The longitudinal sternal muscles (fig. 34) form a nearly continuous transversely segmented sheet, covering the ventral surface between the fore-edge of the second abdominal sternum and the fore-edge of the seventh. These muscles, in conjunction with the longitudinal tergal muscles, tend to telescope the segments.
The oblique sternal muscles (fig. 34), which are very short, connect the adjacent edges of the sterna (2–3, 3–4, 4–5, 5–6, 6–7). They extend inwards nearly to the middle line, but, like the longitudinal sternal muscles, they are not developed beneath the nerve-cord. Acting together, the oblique sternal muscles would antagonise the longitudinal, but it is probable that they are chiefly used to effect lateral flexion of the abdomen, and that only the muscles of one side of the abdomen contract at once.
