Do beetles have lungs?

Redjunior

Arachnoknight
Joined
Jul 10, 2016
Messages
156
So I fed my scorps some meal worms. And one enclosure has a sudden 2 beetles. They're cool, I dont bother them and the scorpion seems fine by their presence. I mean, it's a jacksoni scorp so it's small, and 2 beetles in a 15 gal full of leafs, bark, rocks. They seem to coexist well.

But anyways.. today I noticed one in the empty water dish, figured he wants some water and poured a little in.. he didnt move.. I poured it full hoping he would run out.. he didnt. He held onto the bottom and kinda strolled around for a good 5 minutes before I pushed him out, thinking... dude.. this thing doesnt even care itll drown.. so it begs the question.. do they have lungs? Cause, minutes underwater and jt wasnt even phased. 20200617_182057.jpg 20200617_182301.jpg 20200617_182321.jpg
 

chanda

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Jun 27, 2010
Messages
2,231
No, beetles do not have lungs. They breathe through a series of holes along their bodies called spiracles. The spiracles connect to tracheae (breathing tubes) that transport the oxygen into their bodies where it can oxygenate the cells. They have an open circulatory system, rather than a closed system of veins, arteries, capillaries, etc. like humans have. Instead, they have a a tube-like "heart" in their abdomen that forces hemolymph to circulate throughout their body cavity and to the head. As hemolymph circulates through the body cavity, oxygen is absorbed from the tracheal system, and carbon dioxide is passed out of the body via the tracheal system as they exhale.

You can read more about it here: https://www.livescience.com/1545-beetle-breathing-highly-complex-study-finds.html#:~:text=Beetles breathe in a way,hooked up to the holes.
 
Last edited:
Top