The morphological characterization of the sensilla on the antenna and mouth parts of Notonecta viridis Delcourt, 1909 (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Notonectidae)


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POLAT I., AMUTKAN MUTLU D., KIYAK S., SULUDERE Z.

Journal of the Heteroptera of Turkey, vol.4, no.1, pp.62-84, 2022 (Peer-Reviewed Journal)

Abstract

The main sensory organs of the insects are sensilla who act as thermohygroreceptor, chemoreceptor, or mechanoreceptor and sensilla are found in various structures of insects such as the head, antenna, mouth, and legs. The number, distribution, position, and types of sensilla vary between insect groups and can be used as taxonomic characters. For this reason, since no study has been found on the sensilla of Notonecta viridis Delcourt, 1909 (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Notonectidae) in the literature, it is aimed to study the morphology of the sensilla in the antennae and mouth parts of female and male individuals of this species. For this purpose, scanning electron microscope (SEM) techniques were used in this study. After cleaning and drying the female and male N. viridis individuals, the samples were coated with gold or gold-palladium and examined in SEM. According to the results that we got, 3 major types of sensilla with different diameters have been identified on the mouthparts: sensilla basiconica, sensilla trichodea, and sensilla coeloconica. But 2 major types of sensilla were found on the antenna: sensilla basiconica and sensilla trichodea. Of all these sensilla types, the most common is the sensilla trichodea. The results that we got from this research were also compared with other sensilla of different species in the literature, and similarities and differences were revealed.