Dipartimento di Chimica, Biologia e Biotecnologie, University of Perugia, Italy.
Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie, Alimentari e Ambientali, University of Perugia, Italy.
J Insect Physiol. 2019 Jan;112:57-67. doi: 10.1016/j.jinsphys.2018.12.002. Epub 2018 Dec 3.
Insects devote a large amount of time to self-groom to remove foreign material, especially from their sensory appendages. Using various microscopy techniques and behavioural experiments on intact and ablated insects, the present study investigates the antennal grooming of the southern green stinkbug Nezara viridula, which represents a serious pest of different crops in most areas of the world. The antennal grooming behaviour encompasses an action of scraping involving the tibial comb complex (tibial comb + fossula) of both forelegs, generally followed by the tibial comb complex grooming of one leg using the tarsal hairy adhesive pad of the opposite leg (rubbing). From our observations, we can exclude a role in the antennal grooming of other structures such as the foretibial apparatus, while we show an involvement of this last structure in repositioning the stylets inside the labium. The external and internal morphology (cryo-scanning and transmission electron microscopy) and the evidence for the presence of large proportions of the elastic protein resilin (confocal laser scanning microscopy) in some parts of both the tibial comb complex and the foretibial apparatus are shown, and their functional roles are discussed. For the first time we demonstrated here the multipurpose role of the basitarsal hairy adhesive pad that is involved in both antennal grooming and adhesion to the substrate.
昆虫会花大量时间进行自我清洁，以去除异物，特别是来自感觉附属物上的异物。本研究使用各种显微镜技术和对完整及切除的昆虫进行的行为实验，研究了南方绿椿象 Nezara viridula 的触角清洁行为，该昆虫是世界上大多数地区不同作物的严重害虫。触角清洁行为包括涉及前腿胫节梳复合体（胫节梳+ fossula）的刮擦动作，通常随后使用相对腿的跗节粘性毛垫对一条腿的胫节梳复合体进行清洁（摩擦）。根据我们的观察，可以排除前腿装置等其他结构在触角清洁中的作用，而我们表明最后一个结构参与了将喙重新定位到下唇内。展示了胫节梳复合体和前腿装置的某些部分的外部和内部形态（冷冻扫描和透射电子显微镜）以及存在大量弹性蛋白 resilin 的证据（共聚焦激光扫描显微镜），并讨论了它们的功能作用。我们首次在这里证明了跗节粘性毛垫的多用途作用，它既参与触角清洁，也参与与基质的粘附。
