Chemical Ecology and Olfaction in Short-Horned Grasshoppers (Orthoptera: Acrididae)

The Sensilla-Specific Expression and Subcellular Localization of SNMP1 and SNMP2 Reveal Novel Insights into Their Roles in the Antenna of the Desert Locust Schistocerca gregaria

“…Given the rather broad expression of SNMP1 in populations of basiconic OSNs expressing many different OR types, it is therefore conceivable that in locusts the neuronal SNMP1 is not an obligate co-receptor required for a sensitive response of OSNs to pheromones. Instead it may also act in a sensitive detection of behaviorally important non-pheromonal odorants originating from various biological sources, such as preferred food plants or oviposition sites [ 1 , 4 ] as indicated for D. melanogaster SNMP1 that was found essential for sensitive pheromone detection [ 17 , 18 ], but was also shown to be required for the proper response of OR83c-expressing OSNs to the plant-derived odorant farnesol [ 54 ].…”

“…The desert locust, Schistocerca gregaria , is dreaded for its ability to form huge swarms of many millions of individuals that have devastating impacts on the vegetation and crops of invaded landscapes. In locusts, odorants originating from food sources and oviposition sites or released as pheromones from conspecifics are important olfactory cues that trigger various behaviors crucial for survival and reproduction [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ] Odorant detection in locusts is accomplished by olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs) located in thousands of olfactory units, called sensilla, found mainly on the antenna [ 5 , 6 ] and in low numbers on mouthparts, i.e., the labial and maxillary palps [ 7 , 8 ]. On the antenna, locusts comprise three morphologically different sensilla with basiconic sensilla housing up to 50 OSNs, trichoid sensilla having 3 OSNs, and coeloconic sensilla bearing 4 OSNs.…”

Abundance and distribution of antennal sensilla on males and females of three sympatric species of alpine grasshopper (Orthoptera: Acrididae: Catantopinae) in Aotearoa New Zealand

“…The 12,250 species of grasshoppers (Orthoptera; Caelifera) interact with diverse plant communities around the globe (Husemann et al 2022;Ibanez et al 2013;Joern 1979;Welti et al 2019). However, almost all current knowledge of the chemical exchanges that underpins these plant-insect interactions is derived from the study of a small number of economically important pest species (locusts) (Nakano et al 2022). In addition to locust species, representatives of a number of Gomphocerinae, Oedipodinae and Melanoplinae, and a few species from Acridinae (Bland 1982(Bland , 1989Chen et al 2003;Li et al 2007) have been examined for sensilla but no representatives of the Euryphyminae, Eyprepocnemidinae, Ommatolampidinae, Spathosterninae, Coptacrinae, or southern Catantopinae.…”

“…Chemo-sensitive sensilla can have a single hole (uniporous) at the tip of the projection (apical pore) or have many pores (multi-porous or wall-pored), and these sensilla are responsible for taste (contact chemoreception) and olfaction (distance chemoreception) respectively. The number and proportions of different types of sensilla are likely to be species-speci c and comparison of sensilla density and morphology among species can reveal important ecological differences (Nakano et al 2022).…”

“…;Chen et al 2003;Jin et al 2005;Ochieng et al 1998). Preliminary observations showed a similar pattern of sensilla distribution in B. nivalis, S. australis and P. nitidus, so all sensilla on these thirteen distal segments were recorded.Sensilla were classi ed according to the nomenclature used for the locusts Schistocerca gregaria and Locusta migratoria since these are the most extensively studied taxa(Nakano et al 2022). Number and size of sensilla were counted and measured using the add-in function Cell Counter and the Measure function respectively on ImageJ/Fiji.…”