Abstract
Simple SummaryAntennal sensilla are important sensory organs for insects. According to their morphological structures, they respond to different chemical or mechanical stimuli. The antennae of the studied families of water insects (Notonectidae, Pleidae and Helotrephidae) are short and concealed under the head, leaving a small amount of space for the existence of sensory structures. Nevertheless, six main types of sensilla have been discovered on the surfaces of these antennae. The morphological types described in this study were further compared with other studies on the antennal sensilla of water bugs (Nepomorpha) in order to compare their evolutionary changes within the group.This article introduces the results of a study of three families of Nepomorpha and is the last part of a series of studies that sums up our work on the morphologies of the antennal sensory structures in this taxon. The morphologies and distribution of the sensilla in the families Notonectidae, Pleidae and Helotrephidae were studied under a scanning electron microscope. Six main types (sensilla trichodea, chaetica, campaniformia, basiconica, ampullacea and coeloconica) and ten subtypes (five subtypes of sensilla trichodea and five subtypes of sensilla basiconica) were described. The results were compared with other studies on the antennal sensilla of Nepomorpha in order to assess evolutionary changes within the infraorder. With the use of cladistics analysis, the monophyly of the families Nepidae, Micronectidae, Corixidae and Gelastocoridae was supported. On the other hand, the occurrence of some clades forming superfamilies was weakly supported by bootstrap analysis. These results, supported by presence of the numerous autapomorphies, suggest that antennal sensilla evolved within inner groups.
Highlights
Notonectoidea (Nepomorpha) form a monophyletic clade that includes the Notonectidae, Pleidae and Helotrephidae families [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]
The goal of this study is to describe and analyze the morphologies and functions of the antennal sensillar system of Notonectoidea (Notonectidae, Pleidae and Helotrephidae), taking into account evolutionary changes in particular families
Antennal sensilla are represented by five types of sensilla trichodea, two types of sensilla leaf-like, one type of sensilla paddle-like, cone-like, squamiformia, brush-like and club-like, one type of sensilla chaetica, one type of sensilla campaniformia, five types of sensilla basiconica with different functions, four types of sensilla coeloconica with different functions, sensilla ampullacea, one type of sensilla placodea multilobate, and sensilla plate-like
Summary
Notonectoidea (Nepomorpha) form a monophyletic clade that includes the Notonectidae, Pleidae and Helotrephidae families [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]. Štys and Jansson [9] recognized the superfamily Pleoidea (Pleidae + Helotrephidae) and Notonectoidea (Notonectidae). Based solely on phylogenetic (molecular) studies, Hua et al [10] suggested placing Pleidae outside Nepomorpha, in a separate infraorder (Plemorpha). Notonectoidea (backswimmers) is a cosmopolitan taxon of aquatic insects that share the same method of transportation, swimming on their backs [11,12], but possess different behavioral strategies. For the purpose of this study, we used specimens from all three families of Notonectoidea, as each has features specific to its own taxon such as different numbers of
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