Abstract

Antennae of the wheat stink bug Eurygaster maura L. (Hemiptera: Scutelleridae) were investigated to elucidate structure and distribution of antennal chemosensilla in females. Five type of sensilla were identified and characterized using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and a transmission electron microscope (TEM). Type 1 sensilla are mechanical and contact chemoreceptors with a single apical pore. Types 2 and 3 sensilla are multiporous chemoreceptors both with typical features of olfactory sensilla. Type 4 are multiporous peg-like sensilla, short and with a grooved surface. Type 5 are sensilla coeloconica with a smooth and aporous peg completely inserted in a sub-cuticular chamber. All types are distributed on the two flagellar segments, but we considered only the apical flagellomere in which the largest number of sensilla are located. The most abundant sensilla are type 3, while the less numerous are type 5. All types, except type 2, decreased in number from the tip to the base of the segment. The lower density of sensilla was recorded on the dorsal-internal part of the apical antennomere, while the higher density was recorded on the opposite side (external-ventral).