title: Insects groom their antennae to enhance olfactory acuity.
abstract: Grooming, a common behavior in animals, serves the important function of removing foreign materials from body surfaces. When antennal grooming was prevented in the American cockroach, Periplaneta americana, field emission gun scanning electron microscopy images revealed that an unstructured substance accumulated on nongroomed antennae, covering sensillar pores, but not on groomed antennae of the same individuals. Gas chromatography analysis of antennal extracts showed that over a 24-h period nongroomed antennae accumulated three to four times more cuticular hydrocarbons than groomed antennae. Moreover, nongroomed antennae accumulated significantly more environmental contaminants from surfaces (stearic acid) and from air (geranyl acetate) than groomed antennae. We hypothesized that the accumulation of excess native cuticular hydrocarbons on the antennae would impair olfactory reception. Electroantennogram experiments and single-sensillum recordings supported this hypothesis: antennae that were prevented from being groomed were significantly less responsive than groomed antennae to the sex pheromone component periplanone-B, as well as to the general odorants geranyl acetate and hexanol. We therefore conclude that antennal grooming removes excess native cuticular lipids and foreign chemicals that physically and/or chemically interfere with olfaction, and thus maintains the olfactory acuity of the antennae. Similar experimental manipulations of the German cockroach (Blattella germanica), carpenter ant (Camponotus pennsylvanicus), and the housefly (Musca domestica), which use different modes of antennal grooming, support the hypothesis that antennal grooming serves a similar function in a wide range of insect taxa.
authors: Department of Entomology and W. M. Keck Center for Behavioral Biology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695-7613, USA. katalin.by@gmail.com
authors: Katalin
authors: K
authors: Böröczky
authors: Ayako
authors: A
authors: Wada-Katsumata
authors: Dale
authors: D
authors: Batchelor
authors: Marianna
authors: M
authors: Zhukovskaya
authors: Coby
authors: C
authors: Schal
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D057506:Arthropod Antennae / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D006120:Grooming / Q000502:physiology*; D006838:Hydrocarbons / Q000378:metabolism; D007313:Insecta / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D034582:Integumentary System / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D058618:Sensilla / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D012903:Smell / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D006838:Hydrocarbons
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