Scanning EM of cockroach antenna. Basal segments are Scape and Pedicel (Ped.).
Distal segments form the flagellum (Flg). Lateral view of left antenna, Oc = ocellus.
Picture taken at UIC by M. Halvorsen
| 2) VISUAL GUIDANCE OF MOVABLE MECHANSENSORY SURFACES. The antennae of orthopteroid insects not only respond to touch (and of course many other modalities too), but they are highly mobile and actively moved by the animal. Many sensory surfaces of animals and people are similarly movable. Specific visual cues cause insects to orient their antennae toward approaching objects. We have been recording from visual neurons that encode appropriate information about moving visual stimuli for the guidance of antennal movements. We are also following leads on similar circuitry in closely related insects, since we are interested in how specific sensory interneurons have been used over the course of evolution by animals facing different task demands. -- This project is the primary responsibility of Yoshi Baba and Nick Mathenia
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A sample of recent publications:
| Comer, C.M., Parks, L., Halvorsen, M.B., Breese-Tertelling, A. (2003) The antennal system of the cockroach and evasive behavior. II. Stimulus identification and localization are separable antennal functions. J. Comp. Physiol. 189:97-103. Baba, Y (2000) New methods for staining motor neurons innervating specific muscles of an insect. J. Neurosci. Meth. 98: 65-169. Baba, Y and Comer, C.M. (1999) Organization of the antennal motor system of the cockroach, Periplaneta americana. Soc. Neurosci. Abstr. 25 (2):1362. | ||
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