Age-dependent occurrence of an ascending axon on the omega neuron of the cricket, Teleogryllus oceanicus.

The omega neurons (ON1s) are a mirror-symmetrical pair of identified prothoracic auditory interneurons of crickets which have been previously described as intraganglionic. Using intracellular techniques we stained ON1s of female Teleogryllus oceanicus and found that many ON1s have axons which project anteriorly out of the prothoracic ganglion. The ascending axon arises contralateral to the soma at the most anteriolateral bend of the bow-shaped process of an otherwise "archetypical" ON1 and travels up the neck connective in a ventral position just inside the connective tissue sheath. The occurrence of the ascending axon is age-dependent. Seventy-five percent of ON1s stained in late nymphal stages and in young adults had an ascending axon while only 30% of ON1s in older adults had an ascending axon. Evidence is presented to show that ON1s having ascending axons are developmental variants of the "archetypical" ON1 and do not represent a separate neuron type. The two morphological types of ON1s are not distinguishable on the basis of their responses to sound stimuli having carrier frequencies of 3.5-60 kHz. Although we know that the ascending axon conducts action potentials, its target and terminal morphology are not yet known.