Figure 7 - uploaded by Michael E Scharf
Content may be subject to copyright.
Sensillum trichodium (st) located at the distal part of flagllomere together with s. chaeticum (sch), s. basioconicum (sb) and s. coeloconicum (sc) (×9k) (A); cross-section of s. trichodium (B) showing presence of the sensillum lumen (sl) with dendrites (d) and thick wall (sw) with pores (wp) (C).
Source publication
Invasive mole crickets (Orthoptera: Gryllotalpidae: Scapteriscus spp.) are destructive subterranean pests that cause significant economic losses for the turfgrass, sod and pasture industries. Their behavior suggests that they may sense insecticides applied to the soil, so we sought to examine and describe the antennal and palpal structures of S. vi...
Contexts in source publication
Context 1
... hair-like structures were on the distal (top) part of each seg- ment (Fig. 7 A). One to 2 s. trichodea were on each flagellomere. Each sensillum was ~40 μm long with a basal diameter of 2 μm. External morphology of these sensilla was similar to s. basioconica; sensilla had smooth surfaces pitted with pores, but were more slender and longer than s. basioconica. S. trichodea could be confused with s. chaetica, al- ...
Context 2
... sensilla had smooth surfaces pitted with pores, but were more slender and longer than s. basioconica. S. trichodea could be confused with s. chaetica, al- though the former lacks a flexible pocket and their surface was pitted, not ridged. TEM examination of s. trichodea revealed the presence of dendrites in the sensilla lumen and wall pore (Fig. 7 ...
Similar publications
The mole crickets Neoscapteriscus borellii (Giglio-Tos) and Neoscapteriscus tenuis (Scudder) (Orthoptera: Gryllotalpidae) are recorded for the first time in Bahia State, Brazil in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L. [Solanaceae]) plantations. Insects were collected using pitfall traps in tobacco plantations in the municipalities of Cruz das Almas, Govern...
Relocations of species have become a tool widely used in nature conservation, but insects have rarely been considered as targets. Here, we present a translocation project of the field cricket (Gryllus campestris L. 1758), which is a threatened species at the northern edge of its range. Only ten populations were left in Lower Saxony (Germany), illus...
The saxaul locust, Dericorys albidula Serville (Orthoptera: Dericorythidae) is a major pest of saxaul plants in Qom province of Iran. During 2005-2006, different nymphal instars of bands of D. albidula were treated by aerial spraying of Metarhizium anisopliae var. acridum (Green Muscle®). The gasoline formulation of M. anisopliae var. acridum isola...
Citations
... However, we did not detect repellence in S. zeamais populations. Chemosensory structures are present in insect bodies, particularly on the antennae, mouthparts, and tarsi (Kostromytska et al., 2015), and Sitophilus zeamais detection of chemicals (e.g., insecticides, pheromones, etc.) is associated with the presence and abundance of chemosensory sensilla on their mouthparts and antennae (Fouda et al., 2016;Malia et al., 2016a;Vélez et al., 2017;Shen et al., 2019). However, repellence, if existing, requires only brief contact with the DE-containing surface and its inexistence favors the insect exposure compromising its water balance due to desiccation and communication due to DE damaged sensilla. ...
... Similar sensilla among other insect orders have been found to have dual mechano-and chemo-sensory ability (Myers 1968;Slifer 1974;Steinbrecht and Müller 1976;Daly and Ryan 1979;McIver and Siemicki 1985;Jourdan et al. 1995;Tooming et al. 2012), so we expect that our s.ch.Ia are the same in that respect, especially considering the mobile appearance of their attachment to the flagellomere via a large socket. The role of contact chemoreception in Pachyrhamma mate recognition has not been studied, but many Orthoptera use cuticular hydrocarbons in close range intraspecific recognition (Otte and Cade 1976;Rence and Loher 1977;Hardy and Shaw 1983;Tregenza and Wedell 1997;Kostromytska et al. 2015) and in the cricket Teleogryllus oceanicus the most important stimulus for female's copulatory mounting response is from contact chemoreception (Balakrishnan and Pollack 1997). Thus it is possible that these sensilla are important in a similar respect for Pachyrhamma sp. ...
Insect antennae carry diverse sensory organs for detecting information about their environments and facilitating interaction among individuals, particularly for reproductive behaviour. As such they are predicted to be sexually dimorphic, especially in species which do not use visual or auditory mate-location. The cave wētā are such animals, suggesting that they rely heavily on chemical and tactile information to interact. Sensilla morphology and sexual dimorphism was investigated in two species; Pachyrhamma acanthocera and P. waitomoensis, using scanning electron microscopy. Fourteen types of sensilla basiconica, campaniformia, chaetica, coeloconica, trichodea and Böhm’s sensilla were identified. Among these, sexual dimorphism in the length of four subtypes was detected, and surprisingly, P. waitomoensis males completely lacked all but two of the porous sensilla types. In addition, three types of unique horn-like and hooked antennal protrusions in male P. acanthocera are described, along with similar, but less diverse structures on the antennae of male P. waitomoensis.
... In Orthoptera, Böhm type sensilla have been recorded in the mole cricket Scapteriscus spp. (Gryllotalpidae) (Kostromytska et al., 2015) and in some grasshoppers of Acrididae (Li et al., 2007). Kostromytska et al. (2015) mentioned that these sensilla probably inform individuals about antennal position and movement. ...
... (Gryllotalpidae) (Kostromytska et al., 2015) and in some grasshoppers of Acrididae (Li et al., 2007). Kostromytska et al. (2015) mentioned that these sensilla probably inform individuals about antennal position and movement. The coeloconic sensilla have been detected in all studied groundhoppers to date. ...
The antennae of both sexes of the groundhopper Discotettix belzebuth (Serville, 1838) (Orthoptera: Tetrigidae) were examined using scanning electron microscopy. The antennae are composed of 13 segments that differ in their morphology, shape, and spatial distribution of the sensilla. We identified four types of sensilla (coeloconic, placoid, basiconic, and Böhm). Those particular numbers varied among the different antennal segments. The per-segment distributions of each type of sensillum did not differ between males and females, but the number of sensilla per mm² of antennal surface was approximately 9% greater in females than in males. The specifically dilated and flattened middle antennal segments of D. belzebuth did not bear more sensilla than other filiform antennal segments. The surfaces of these conspicuous segments are composed of protuberances and cuticular plates, and sensilla occur only on their lateral margins. The possible functions of the particular antennal sensilla and the specifically dilated antennal segments are discussed in relation to their morphology, olfactory detection, contact chemoreception, hygroreception and in relation with the species habitat associations and potential anti-predatory adaptations.
The perception of cues and signals in visual, olfactory and auditory modalities underpins all animal interactions and provides crucial fitness-related information. Sensory organ morphology is under strong selection to optimize detection of salient cues and signals in a given signalling environment, the most well-studied example being selection on eye design in different photic environments. Many dim-light active species have larger compound eyes relative to body size, but little is known about differences in non-visual sensory organ morphology between diurnal and dim-light active insects. Here, we compare the micromorphology of the compound eyes (visual receptors) and antennae (olfactory and mechanical receptors) in representative pairs of day active and dim-light active species spanning multiple taxonomic orders of insects. We find that dim-light activity is associated with larger compound eye ommatidia and larger overall eye surface area across taxonomic orders but find no evidence that morphological adaptations that enhance the sensitivity of the eye in dim-light active insects are accompanied by morphological traits of the antennae that may increase sensitivity to olfactory, chemical or physical stimuli. This suggests that the ecology and natural history of species is a stronger driver of sensory organ morphology than is selection for complementary investment between sensory modalities.
Plant volatiles are the invisible players in the plant-insect co-evolutionary arms race. They are involved in various plant-mediated tri-trophic interactions within the ecosystem. Volatiles, emitted from different parts of the plant, serves as a cue for the host-seeking herbivores. Interestingly, insects perceive and process such complex environmental cues with their advanced olfactory system. During herbivory, plants also produce defensive volatiles recognized as herbivore-induced plant volatiles (HIPVs) that often serve a dual purpose by attracting the natural enemies and giving an alarming signal to the plants nearby. Insects tend to avoid the host plants emitting such defensive volatiles and non-host plants, releasing non-host volatiles (NHVs). Understanding the dynamics of host selection through plant volatile recognition by pest insects is highly important to develop eco-friendly pest management practices employing strategies such as push-pull strategy. In the present chapter, we have reviewed different aspects of plant volatile production, insect olfactory system organization, the contribution of plant volatiles in host-seeking behavior of insects, and finally their potential use in formulating insect pest management strategies.
While the mate choice literature has focused primarily on the choices that females make, under certain circumstances males are expected to make mating decisions as well. Such circumstances include when males provide a significant energetic investment in a female or her offspring. Male orthopterans can invest considerable resources in females and have been studied for their mating investment decisions. However, while males provide acoustic information to females, females do not provide reciprocal acoustic information to males. Here, we tested the hypothesis that Laupala males use chemical signals to make mating decisions. We found that males and females have discernable differences in cuticular lipid expression when considering both whole-body and antennae-only extracts. Furthermore, access to the antennae alone resulted in males showing more courtship towards females and more aggressive behaviours towards males. Finally, males showed higher levels of association and courtship behaviour near female-exposed filter paper than they did near male-exposed and control filter paper. These results suggest that Laupala males use chemical signals when deciding whether to initiate courtship and open the possibility that chemical communication has played a role in the diversification of this genus.
