Publication details
Where do insects have their magnetoreceptor? Antennae of cockroach are not likely candidates.
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2007 |
| Type | Article in Proceedings |
| Conference | The 8th Congress of the International Society for Neuroethology |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Web | http://neuroethology.org |
| Field | Physiology |
| Keywords | insect magnetoreception antennae behaviour |
| Description | Both the molecular principle and the localization of the animal magnetoreceptor are open problems for neuroethology. In vertebrates, neuro-behavioral tests helped to locate first candidate structures hosting a hypothetical magnetoreceptor. In insects however, there is no direct evidence of any structure or organ being involved in magnetosensitive behaviour. The two hypotheses of magnetoreception have been considered for years: the magnetite hypothesis proposes that magnetic input is mediated by particles of magnetite, whareas the radical pair model suggests that chemical processes involving photopigments of the vision pathway may be modified by geomagnetic field; the first being the variation of mechanoreception the latter the variation of photoreception. Insect antenae as organs specialised for different sensory capacities seem to be good candidates also to play a role in insect magnetoreception skills. Antennae stand outside the vision sensory pathway and their involvement in magnetoreception would point to magnetite hypothesis. Such idea has also been supported by findings of ferromagnetic particles. In the present study, we tested the impact of total ablation of both antennae on the spontaneous magnetosensitive reaction of american cockroach Periplaneta americana. The assay is based on finding that movement actitivity (restlesness) of cockroaches kept individually in petri dishes rises under influence od slow periodical rotation of horizontal compoment of the geomagnetic field. We found no loss of receptive reaction in antennaeless cockroaches. It is likely that antennae, however important sensory apparatus they are, play a small role (if any) in cockroach magnetic reception. The result may narrow the spectrum of potential candidate structures and mechanisms of insect magnetoreception. |
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