In locusts, olfaction plays a crucial role for initiating and controlling behaviours, including food seeking and aggregation with conspecifics, which underlie the agricultural pest capacity of the animals. In this context, the molecular basis of olfaction in these insects is of particular interest. Here, we have identified genes of two orthopteran species, Locusta migratoria and Schistocera gre...

1. The campaniform sensilla on the wings of the locust are strain-sensitive mechanoreceptors that provide proprioceptive feedback about wing forces, particularly aerodynamic lift, experienced during flight. They can be excited by imposed deformations of the wing, including those caused by imposed wing twisting. The afferents of the single subcostal group of sensilla on the hindwing had the same...

Animals employ multiple mechanisms to detect the presence and location of environmental stimuli. Recent work suggests that Caenorhabditis elegans uses chemosensory information provided by spatially distinct sensilla to generate a sensory map of its environment and to avoid noxious compounds.

Abstract Acoustic and vibrational sensitivity of single identified auditory receptors in bushcrickets was studied by electrophysiological methods. In the intermediate organ, some neurons were whose response to acceleration did not depend on stimulus frequency over a significant range; along with them, there cells showing increased frequencies 0.4–0.8 kHz for displacement, and/or 0.1–0.3, 1–1.2,...

An important aspect of the association of Lype phaeopa (Stephens) with submerged wood is the oviposition behavior of adult females, which preferably oviposit their eggs on moist emergent or submerged parts of woody debris with a structured surface. The eggs are commonly deposited in cracks and crevices using the elongated ovipositor. Ovipositor morphology and various sensilla on the tip and alo...

The pattern of sensilla of the adult Drosophila has been a recurrent theme in the study of pattern formation (OstenSacken, 1881; Sturtevant, 1921; Stern, 1968). A set of mechanoreceptors of the notum called macrochaeta or bristles has been particularly useful in these studies. Their conspicuous morphology and invariant position has greatly simplified the analysis of genetic variants and has all...

The pattern of sensilla of the adult Drosophila has been a recurrent theme in the study of pattern formation (OstenSacken, 1881; Sturtevant, 1921; Stern, 1968). A set of mechanoreceptors of the notum called macrochaeta or bristles has been particularly useful in these studies. Their conspicuous morphology and invariant position has greatly simplified the analysis of genetic variants and has all...

In most olfactory systems studied to date, neurons that express the same odorant receptor (Or) gene are scattered across sensory epithelia, intermingled with neurons that express different Or genes. In Drosophila, olfactory sensilla that express the same Or gene are dispersed on the antenna and the maxillary palp. Here we show that Or identity is specified in a spatially stereotyped pattern by ...

A new species of Hirschmanniella was found in bulrush roots; LM and SEM morphological studies revealed that it is distinct from other species in the genus. Therefore, it is designated Hirschmanniella pomponiensis n. sp. Six lips are fused to form a hexagonal labial plate, six inner sensilla encircle the stoma opening, and four cephalic sensilla open in the corners of subdorsal and subventral li...

Internal mechano-sensors, as an indispensable part of the proprioceptive system intelligent equipment, have attracted enormous research interest because their extremely crucial role in monitoring machining processes, real-time diagnosis equipment faults, adaptive motor control and so on. The mechano-sensory structure with signal-transduction function is important factor determining sensing perf...