![]() Instead of nostrils, insects breathe through openings in the thorax and abdomen called spiracles. Oxygen and carbon dioxide gases are exchanged through a network of tubes called tracheae. ![]() ![]() For insects, respiration is separate from the circulatory system. How are we different? Humans have a combined respiratory and circulatory system, where oxygen is moved in the blood to muscles and tissues within a closed system. Eventually, insects release carbon dioxide as waste back into the air. Those insects that move a lot, particularly through flight, need more oxygen than sedentary insects. How are we the same? Insects get oxygen from the air to fuel muscles and tissues. In some ways, insects breathe like us and in other ways, insects breathe in a completely different way. Of course, how insects can accomplish this is complicated and full of entomological jargon. In short, most insects can survive under water (or in saturated soils) for short durations. The recent wet weather in Iowa has prompted people to ask me if insects can breathe under water. ![]()
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