Aldehyde-specific responses of olfactory sensory neurons in the praying mantis

Abstract

Although praying mantises rely mainly on vision for predatory behaviours, olfaction also plays a critical role in feeding and mating behaviours. However, the receptive processes underlying olfactory signals remain unclear. Here, we identified olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs) that are highly tuned to detect aldehydes in the mantis Tenodera aridifolia. In extracellular recordings from OSNs in basiconic sensilla on the antennae, we observed three different spike shapes, indicating that at least three OSNs are housed in a single basiconic sensillum. Unexpectedly, one of the three OSNs exhibited strong excitatory responses to a set of aldehydes. Based on the similarities of the response spectra to 15 different aldehydes, the aldehyde-specific OSNs were classified into three classes: B, S, and M. Class B broadly responded to most aldehydes used as stimulants; class S responded to short-chain aldehydes (C3–C7); and class M responded to middle-length chain aldehydes (C6–C9). Thus, aldehyde molecules can be finely discriminated based on the activity patterns of a population of OSNs. Because many insects emit aldehydes for pheromonal communication, mantises might use aldehydes as olfactory cues for locating prey habitat.

The chromosome-level genome of Chinese praying mantis Tenodera sinensis (Mantodea: Mantidae) reveals its biology as a predator

“…5 , Table 3 , Supplementary Tables S22–S23 ). This suggests that while olfaction plays an important role in locating prey habit [ 37 ], the predation behavior of the mantis may not primarily rely on the regulation of the olfactory system. Instead, it may be more influenced by vision or other sensation mechanisms.…”

Ultrastructure of the antennal sensilla of the praying mantis Creobroter nebulosa Zheng (Mantedea: Hymenopodidae)

“…Values p-less than 0.05 indicate a significant difference and an extremely significant difference. The terminology for the antennal sensilla follows that by of Carle et al , and Drilling [ 5 , 14 ].…”

“…Tenodera aridifolia Stoll (Mantodea: Mantidae) is an important and widely distributed predatory insect. In previous studies using scanning electron microscopy of this species, the cuticular fine structure on the antenna was described and the relationship between antennal morphology and behavior was discussed [10,[14][15][16]. The authors illustrated that the predatory behavior of the T. aridifolia is affected by the cues coming from sensory sensilla, which determine their food choice [10].…”