BEETLE BREATH — Researchers shined an X-ray beam through the head and thorax of this wood beetle, Platynus decentis , to view the compression and expansion of tracheal tubes. They discovered that insects breathe rapidly in a manner similar to lungs. Tracheal tubes are visible at the junction between the head and thorax. Photograph: Mark Westneat, courtesy of The Field Museum.

View QuickTime movie of insect breathing

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