Ultrastructure of Antennal Sensilla of a Prionine Longhorn Beetle, Prionoplus reticularis (White)
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Informa UK Limited
Abstract
Antennal sensilla are fundamental to an insects sensory perception of its environment. In species where one sex produces pheromones for attracting mates, we can predict antennal and sensilla morphology to be sexually dimorphic. Prionoplus reticularis White (Prioninae; Cerambycidae; Coleoptera) is a large longhorn beetle exhibiting a scramble competition polygyny mating system with sexual dimorphism present in antennae length, suggesting chemical cues are of importance in male mate searching. The present study aims to investigate the antennal ultrastructure morphology and sexual dimorphism in this species using scanning electron microscopy. Various sensilla were identified only in males: sensilla filiformia, sensilla auricillica, wall pore hairs, and distal sensilla chaetica. These sensilla are known to have chemosensory and mechanosensory functions in other insect groups, suggesting these sensory organs play an important role in male mating strategies.Description
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New Zealand Journal of Zoology, ISSN: 0301-4223 (Print); 1175-8821 (Online), Informa UK Limited, 52(5), 636-653. doi: 10.1080/03014223.2025.2461477
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© 2025 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.