Antennal fine morphology of the threatened beetle Osmoderma eremita (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae), revealed by scanning electron microscopy.
Author
Summary, in English
The aim of this study was to characterize the antennal morphology of Osmoderma eremita, a threatened scarab beetle inhabiting tree hollows. O. eremita males produce a sex pheromone, (R)-(+)-γ-decalactone, responsible mainly for the attraction of females but also other males. Gross and fine morphology of microstructures including sensilla, microsculpture and pores were analyzed using Scanning Electron Microscopy. The antenna of O. eremita showed the typical lamellicorn shape of scarab beetles, with a basal scape, a pedicel, a funicle composed of five antennomeres and a club composed of three lamellae. Six different subtypes of sensilla chaetica (Ch.1 - 6), Böhm sensilla (Bo), one subtype of sensilla basiconica (Ba.1), two subtypes of sensilla coeloconica (Co.1 - 2), two subtypes of sensilla placodea (Pl.1 - 2), pores and peculiar folds were described. The two sexes did not show any significant differences in the occurrence and number of the sensilla placodea, known to be responsible for the pheromone reception. Instead, some sexual differences were found on the occurrence and topology of three different microstructures: (1) one subtype of sensillum chaeticum (Ch.2) occurring on the pedicel only in males; (2) a characteristic pore occurring on the funicle only in males; (3) a peculiar fold occurring on different antennomeres of the funicle in the two sexes, on the fourth in males and on the fifth in females. A comparison between sensilla of O. eremita and those of other Scarabaeoidea is provided. Microsc. Res. Tech., 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Department/s
Publishing year
2016
Language
English
Pages
178-191
Publication/Series
Microscopy Research and Technique
Volume
79
Document type
Journal article
Publisher
John Wiley & Sons Inc.
Topic
- Zoology
Keywords
- pheromone-sensitive sensilla
- lamellate antenna;
- SEM
Status
Published
Project
- The PheroBio project (Pheromone monitoring of Biodiversity)
Research group
- Pheromone Group
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 1059-910X