New Insights on Antennal Sensilla of Anastrepha ludens (Diptera: Tephritidae) Using Advanced Microscopy Techniques

Simple Summary In insects, including tephritid fruit flies, some of which are notorious pests of commercially grown fruit, the antenna harbors the sensilla responsible for the perception of odors (chemicals carried by air), temperature, humidity, and movement. As one of the methods used to monitor and control these agricultural pests is using traps baited with attractive odors, or toxic bait sprays, both of which an adult fly detects through the antenna, the study of this organ is crucial in understanding the behavior of the insect and applying this information in its environmentally friendly control/management. In this study, we detected up to 16 different subtypes of sensilla and various other hitherto unknown structures with the help of various types of microscopes in the antenna of the Mexican Fruit Fly, Anastrepha ludens, a pest of citrus and mango. We describe these sensilla/structures and suggest possible functions. As other researchers have previously worked on this topic, we made a special effort to uniformize the criteria used to classify these key structures, update the terminology, and better describe each sensilla with the help of detailed photographs. Using light, transmission, scanning electron, and confocal microscopy, we carried out a morphological study of antennal sensilla and their ultrastructures of the Mexican Fruit Fly Anastrepha ludens (Loew), an economically important species that is a pest of mangos and citrus in Mexico and Central America. Our goal was to update the known information on the various sensilla in the antennae of A. ludens, involved in the perception of odors, temperature, humidity, and movement. Based on their external shape, size, cuticle-thickness, and presence of pores, we identified six types of sensilla with 16 subtypes (one chaetica in the pedicel, four clavate, two trichoid, four basiconic, one styloconic, and one campaniform-like in the flagellum, and three additional ones in the two chambers of the sensory pit (pit-basiconic I and II, and pit-styloconic)), some of them described for the first time in A. ludens. We also report, for the first time, two types of pores in the sensilla (hourglass and wedge shapes) that helped classify the sensilla. Additionally, we report a campaniform-like sensillum only observed by transmission electronic microscopy on the flagellum, styloconic and basiconic variants inside the sensory pit, and an hourglass-shaped pore in six sensilla types. We discuss and suggest the possible function of each sensillum according to their characteristics and unify previously used criteria in the only previous study on the topic.

Automated summary

This study observed and described the different types of sensilla and other unknown structures in the antenna of the Mexican Fruit Fly. The aim was to update the knowledge of these structures and their functions in the perception of odors, temperature, humidity, and movement. The findings are important in understanding the behavior of this pest insect and developing environmentally friendly control methods.