The central projection of cephalic mechanosensory axons in the haematophagous bug Triatoma infestans

Insausti, Teresita C.; Lazzari, Claudio R.

doi:10.1590/s0074-02762000000300014

Cited by 10 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…The afferent axons of the hairs reach deep into the interommatidial spaces and beyond and according to Honegger () in Gryllus , Mobbs () in the honeybee, and Zack and Bacon () in the praying mantis appear to enter the brain through lateral–dorsal and medial–dorsal tegumentary nerves that arborize in the suboesaphgeal and prothoracic ganglia. That suggests a role in detecting air currents and flight control (Tyrer et al ., ) and a similarity to other body hair in insects, especially those of the head region has been noticed (Insausti & Lazzari, ). In the mantis, the eye is covered with approximately 600 bristles and campaniform sensilla and cutting the eye branch of the dorsal tegumentary nerve, the peripheral nerve innervating the corneal sensilla, eliminates head grooming by tactile stimulation of the eye (Zack & Bacon, ).…”

Section: Compound Eye Research Suggestionsmentioning

confidence: 70%

Compound eyes of insects and crustaceans: Some examples that show there is still a lot of work left to be done

Meyer-Rochow

2014

Insect Science

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Similarities and differences between the 2 main kinds of compound eye (apposition and superposition) are briefly explained before several promising topics for research on compound eyes are being introduced. Research on the embryology and molecular control of the development of the insect clear-zone eye with superposition optics is one of the suggestions, because almost all of the developmental work on insect eyes in the past has focused on eyes with apposition optics. Age- and habitat-related ultrastructural studies of the retinal organization are another suggestion and the deer cad Lipoptena cervi, which has an aerial phase during which it is winged followed by a several months long parasitic phase during which it is wingless, is mentioned as a candidate species. Sexual dimorphism expressing itself in many species as a difference in eye structure and function provides another promising field for compound eye researchers and so is a focus on compound eye miniaturization in very small insects, especially those that are aquatic and belong to species, in which clear-zone eyes are diagnostic or are tiny insects that are not aquatic, but belong to taxa like the Diptera for instance, in which open rather than closed rhabdoms are the rule. Structures like interommatidial hairs and glands as well as corneal microridges are yet another field that could yield interesting results and in the past has received insufficient consideration. Finally, the dearth of information on distance vision and depth perception is mentioned and a plea is made to examine the photic environment inside the foam shelters of spittle bugs, chrysales of pupae and other structures shielding insects and crustaceans.

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Section: Compound Eye Research Suggestionsmentioning

confidence: 70%

Compound eyes of insects and crustaceans: Some examples that show there is still a lot of work left to be done

Meyer-Rochow

2014

Insect Science

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“…Besides locusts, cephalic bristles have been reported in the hematophagous bug Triatoma infestans, in which central projections of the bristles were mapped using cobalt fills (Insausti and Lazzari 2000) but not much is known about their effect on behavior in general and flight in particular. Similar to the projection patterns in locusts (Tryer, Bacon and Davies, 1979) and moths in the current study, the cephalic bristle axons in these bugs are carried by the anterior and posterior tegumentary nerves into the brain.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mechanosensory cephalic bristles mediate rapid flight initiation in endothermic hawkmoths

Manjunath,

Mukunda,

Sane

2024

Preprint

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Endothermic insects including bees, butterflies, and moths need to warm up their flight muscles before taking flight. For instance, diurnal butterflies bask in the sun to heat their flight muscles, whereas nocturnal hawkmoths display a pre-flight shivering behavior in which small-amplitude wing movements cause flight muscles to warm up, eventually generating large-amplitude wing motion for flight. The time required for warm-up puts such insects at a considerable risk if they need to rapidly escape from predators. Here, we show that upon experiencing a sudden air-puff on the head, hawkmoths rapidly initiate flight bypassing the pre-flight shivering phase. This response is mediated by mechanosensory cephalic bristles that are buried under the scales on their head. Cephalic bristle mediated flight entails a stereotypic triggering of various flight-related reflexes including antennal positioning, foreleg extension, wing movement, and abdominal flexion. Some mechanosensory neurons underlying cephalic bristles arborize in the subesophageal zone (SEZ) and antennal motor and mechanonsensory center (AMMC), whereas most arborize in pro-, meso- and meta-thoracic ganglia which contain the motor circuitry for foreleg motion, flight, and abdominal flexion. Thermal recordings revealed that large-amplitude wing motion following cephalic bristle-stimulation occurs at lower thoracic temperatures than required for voluntary flight. Electromyogram recordings from steering and indirect flight muscles show significant variability in activation latency in response to cephalic bristle stimulus. The range of latency values among different muscles overlaps, suggesting that cephalic bristle stimulation activates steering muscles, thereby generating high-amplitude wing movement at lower thoracic temperatures. Concomitant activation of the indirect flight muscles initiates thoracic warm-up in preparation for longer flight. Thus, akin to locusts, the cephalic bristle system in hawkmoths rapidly triggers flight upon sensing danger, ensuring swift escape from potential threats.

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“…shelter remains an open question. For example, it would be important to evaluate whether mechanoreceptor hairs located over the surface of the body of these insects (Insausti & Lazzari, 2000) play a role in triggering triatomine akinesis. Besides, an analysis of the distribution of mechanosensory hairs and the projection patterns of the neurons associated with them could be done to evaluate if they correlate with the different degrees of thigmotaxis seen in the studied species.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Species-specific patterns of shelter exploitation in Chagas disease vectors of the genus Rhodnius

Mosquera

Lorenzo

2020

Acta Tropica

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Triatomines are insect vectors of Trypanosoma cruzi the etiological agent of Chagas disease. Several species belonging to the genus Rhodnius (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) have been reported inhabiting domestic and peridomestic environments in different regions of Latin America. However, behavioral and sensory ecology aspects related to their use of shelters have been poorly studied. The objective of the present study was to characterize how bug density, illumination and thigmotactic information affect the use of shelters by three species belonging to the Rhodnius prolixus species complex. We evaluated whether exposure to different insect densities affects the proportion of R. prolixus, Rhodnius robustus and Rhodnius neglectus that choose to stay inside a refuge. Besides, we evaluated whether absence of an illumination regime affects their tendency to hide in shelters. Our results showed that the proportion of individuals that remained outside the shelter increased with rising insect densities. Nevertheless, while R. prolixus only reacted by augmenting this proportion with the highest density tested, the other species showed significant increases already at lower densities. On the other hand, a significantly higher number of R. robustus stayed outside the shelter in the absence of a light cycle, while no change was induced for the other species. Thus, this study determined species-specific profiles of refuge exploitation defined by factors such as thigmotaxis and negative phototaxis. The differences observed among these Rhodnius species may impact their house colonization abilities, which seem to be critically affected by bug hiding performance during health service detection processes.

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The central projection of cephalic mechanosensory axons in the haematophagous bug Triatoma infestans

Cited by 10 publications

References 19 publications

Compound eyes of insects and crustaceans: Some examples that show there is still a lot of work left to be done

Compound eyes of insects and crustaceans: Some examples that show there is still a lot of work left to be done

Mechanosensory cephalic bristles mediate rapid flight initiation in endothermic hawkmoths

Species-specific patterns of shelter exploitation in Chagas disease vectors of the genus Rhodnius

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