High-vacuum scanning electron microscopy, following coating of specimens with gold, produces high quality images that have proved invaluable for the study of insect sensilla. Unfortunately, the technique is essentially destructive, and cannot be used on live or valuable museum specimens. In particular, high-vacuum scanning usually causes the collapse of the tips of the palps, interfering with any examination of the sensilla in this area. A new low-vacuum technique is described that avoids these problems. Insect cuticle does not need to be coated with gold, thus avoiding damage to important specimens. Examples are given of scans of the palp tips of live carabid beetles, anaesthetised with CO 2 . It was shown that the technique could consistently display these tips in their natural convex state. In all, four types of sensilla were identified by low-vacuum scans of the maxillary palps, and four further types on the terminal segment of the antennae, plus glandular openings. The antennae revealed a type of sensilla that has not previously been described on carabids. These sensilla showed clear structural differences between the two species studied, Pterostichus melanarius Illiger and P. niger Schaller (Coleoptera: Carabidae), and can be used as a diagnostic character for both fresh and dried specimens. The low-vacuum technique can be recommended for examining valuable 'type' specimens without risk of damage.