The distribution of 5 types of sensilla was statistically analysed on the 4–10th antennal segments of the male click beetle Agriotes obscurus (Coleoptera : Elateridae). The distribution pattern of the trichoid pheromone receptors (T 2 sensilla) and the olfactory basiconic B 1B 2 sensilla on the antennae of male A. obscurus differs significantly from the distribution pattern of the contact chemoreceptors (T 1 sensilla) and probably the non-olfactory B 7 and D sensilla. A significant peculiarity of the distribution of olfactory sensilla is their location on the antennal segments as 2 separate (dorsal and ventral) fields of sensilla. The numbers of T 2 and B 1B 2 sensilla on dorsal fields of sensilla of the 4–10th segments increase towards the apex of the antenna nearly linearly. On ventral fields of sensilla of the 4–10th antennal segments, the number of B 1B 2 sensilla is nearly uniform; the number of T 2 sensilla in the proximal part of the antenna increases towards the apex, but on distal segments of the antenna their number stabilizes. It is characteristic of both the T 2 and to B 1B 2 sensilla that their numbers are slightly greater on anterior than posterior sides of dorsal sensillar fields, and also greater on posterior than anterior sides of ventral sensillar fields of all antennal segments investigated. We assume that the number of olfactory sensilla on the antennae of male beetles coincides with the distribution of strength of olfactory signal on the antennae of beetles orientating in an odour plume. The distribution patterns of T 2 and B 1B 2 sensilla of the male A. obscurus can be related to some behavioural peculiarities of olfactory orientation (walking or flying and vibrating of the antennae).