Book Lungs In Spiders

The book lungs contain blood vessels that bring the blood into close contact with the surface exposed to the air and where gas exchange between blood and air occurs.

Book lungs in spiders. The gonopore or genital opening from which eggs or sperm are released is placed in the genital groove between the front pair of book lungs. Spiders have four respiratory functions that work together to enable the spider to breathe. Book lungs are the main respiratory organ in most arachnids spiders and scorpions.

On the inside of the abdomen are. The inside of each leaf is filled with blood and the outside is exposed to air. The spinnerets silk spinning organs usually four or six in number and the terminal anal tubercle on which the gut ends at the anus.

For spiders with a trachea the trachea is located at the posterior end which is toward the back end of the spider. In most female araneomorph spiders there is another separate plaque like mating opening the epigynum. Book lungs are a series of very thin leaf like structures like the pages in a book.

Tarantulas on the other hand have two pairs of book lungs. Some have a pair of book lungs others have several pairs. For example daddy longleg spiders not to be confused with the daddy longlegs have only one pair of book lungs.

Koch 1841 araneomorphae theridiidae. The book lungs located inside the arachnid are made up of several thin membranes somewhere between 10 and 80 depending the species. Mesothele and mygalomorph spiders have two pairs of book lungs filled with haemolymph where openings on the ventral surface of the abdomen allow air to enter and oxygen to diffuse in and carbon dioxide to diffuse out.

The book lungs themselves consist of a series of haemolymph filled plate like structures. The spider s normal movement provides all of the necessary energy to push air in and out. The book lungs the breathing organs.