Functional Morphology and Evolutionary Diversity of Vibration Receptors in Insects

Abstract

Vibratory signals of biotic and abiotic origin occur commonly in the environment of all living organisms. Many species deliberately produce such signals for communication purposes. Thus, it is not only useful but also advantageous and/or necessary to be able to detect and process vibratory signals with appropriate receptor organs. Mechanoreception is suggested to be evolutionarily ancient among animals (Kung 2005;Thurm 2001). Given the long evolutionary history, such receptors have very different anatomical structures and corresponding physiological properties. Responding to mechanical stress is a basic property of cells, even outside the nervous system. In the nervous system, specialized sensory cells and organs register mechanosensory signals and impart the information to higher centers. Structural and molecular adaptations in various mechanoreceptors can push these systems to a sensitivity at or near to the physical limits, e.g., with respect to the noise-stimuli relation. Here, we will deal with the vibratory receptor systems of insects, with a focus on the specialized scolopidial sensory organs from molecular mechanisms to systems analysis.

Wing mechanics, vibrational and acoustic communication in a new bush-cricket species of the genus Copiphora (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae) from Colombia

“…The ability of animals to detect substrate borne vibrations through mechanoreception appears to precede the ability to hear audible airborne sounds and predates that of the vertebrate ear mechanism (Hill and Shadley, 2001;Lakes-Harlan and Strauß, 2014). An estimated 150,000 species of insects solely use substrate-borne vibrations for conspecific communication, with a further 45,000 species using vibration along with another method of communication (Cocroft and Rodríguez, 2005).…”

Chordotonal organs in hemipteran insects: unique peripheral structures but conserved central organization revealed by comparative neuroanatomy

“…Sense organs that are exquisitely sensitive to vibration and sound are internal stretch receptors ubiquitously found in body appendages of insects, called chordotonal organs (Field and Matheson 1998;Yack 2004). For example, the subgenual organ (SGO) located in the proximal tibia is the chordotonal organ specialized in detecting substrate vibrations (Lakes-Harlan and Strauß, 2014). The SGO in N. viridula contains only two sensory neurons (Michel et al 1983), developing at a much lesser extent compared to that in orthopteran insects (Nishino and Field 2003;Strauß and Lakes-Harlan 2013).…”

“…1j, k), forming a single "scolopidium" (Field and Matheson 1998;Lakes-Harlan and Strauß 2014). Twelve scolopidia were stained in the FCO in P. stali, the same number as that for P. japonensis (Table 1) and for N. viridula (Michel et al 1983).…”

Neuronal Regression of Internal Leg Vibroreceptor Organs in a Cave-Dwelling Insect (Orthoptera: Rhaphidophoridae: <b><i>Dolichopoda araneiformis</i></b>)

“…Hence, Dolichopoda species can be assumed to show secondary adaptations to cave habitats compared to other Ensifera. We investigated the neuroanatomy of the SGO complex since it is considered most important for detection of vibration stimuli from the substrate [Čokl and Virant-Doberlet, 2009;Lakes-Harlan and Strauß, 2014], and we tested whether the sensory structures in D. araneiformis became simplified or reduced compared to Troglophilus and other Ensifera in response to the cave habitat.…”

“…In insects, substrate vibrations are often detected by internal sensory organs consisting of scolopidial sensilla [Kalmring, 1985;Field and Matheson, 1998;Čokl et al, 2006;Eberhard et al, 2010;Lakes-Harlan and Strauß, 2014;Yack, 2016]. For insects, it has been suggested that cave habitats in general select for increased sensory organs on legs [Cloudsley-Thompson, 1988].…”