COMPARATIVE-ANALYSIS OF LACTATE-DEHYDROGENASE LEVELS IN MUSCLES OF SOME ORTHOPTERA

The lactate dehydrogenase activity was examined in skeletal muscles of specimens of 53 species of Orthoptera belonging to five families of E nsifera and four of Caelifera. The results showed that: (1) the five f amilies of Ensifera contain a low level of lactate dehydrogenase activ ity in their jumping muscles, whereas two families of Caelifera, Catan topidae and Acrididae, contain a far higher level; (2) in the four fam ilies of Caelifera, there are two well-distinct levels of activity of lactate dehydrogenase in leg muscles, and (3) the lactate dehydrogenas e activity in the jumping femurs is, in general, more than double that of the non-jumping femurs. It was suggested that this difference in a ctivity between specialized and non-specialized leg segments represent s a metabolic adaptation to burst muscular activity.