Department of Biological Sciences, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL 60115, USA.
J Insect Sci. 2023 Mar 1;23(2). doi: 10.1093/jisesa/iead018.
The insect equivalent of taste buds are gustatory sensilla, which have been found on mouthparts, pharynxes, antennae, legs, wings, and ovipositors. Most gustatory sensilla are uniporous, but not all apparently uniporous sensilla are gustatory. Among sensilla containing more than one neuron, a tubular body on one dendrite is also indicative of a taste sensillum, with the tubular body adding tactile function. But not all taste sensilla are also tactile. Additional morphological criteria are often used to recognize if a sensillum is gustatory. Further confirmation of such criteria by electrophysiological or behavioral evidence is needed. The five canonical taste qualities to which insects respond are sweet, bitter, sour, salty, and umami. But not all tastants that insects respond to easily fit in these taste qualities. Categories of insect tastants can be based not only on human taste perception, but also on whether the response is deterrent or appetitive and on chemical structure. Other compounds that at least some insects taste include, but are not limited to: water, fatty acids, metals, carbonation, RNA, ATP, pungent tastes as in horseradish, bacterial lipopolysaccharides, and contact pheromones. We propose that, for insects, taste be defined not only as a response to nonvolatiles but also be restricted to responses that are, or are thought to be, mediated by a sensillum. This restriction is useful because some of the receptor proteins in gustatory sensilla are also found elsewhere.
昆虫的味觉感受器为味觉感器，分布于口器、咽、触角、腿、翅膀和产卵器上。大多数味觉感器为单孔感器，但并非所有单孔感器都是味觉感器。在包含多个神经元的感器中，一个树突上的管状结构也表明是味觉感器，管状结构增加了触觉功能。但并非所有味觉感器都具有触觉功能。通常使用其他形态学标准来识别感器是否为味觉感器。需要通过电生理学或行为证据进一步证实这些标准。昆虫对五种典型的味觉质量有反应，分别是甜、苦、酸、咸和鲜味。但并非所有昆虫容易响应的味觉剂都符合这些味觉质量。昆虫味觉剂的分类不仅可以基于人类的味觉感知，还可以基于反应是抑制性的还是刺激性的，以及化学结构。至少有一些昆虫能够感知的其他化合物包括但不限于：水、脂肪酸、金属、碳酸化、RNA、ATP、辣根等刺鼻味道、细菌脂多糖和接触信息素。我们提出，对于昆虫来说，味觉不仅应定义为对非挥发性物质的反应，还应限制为被认为是或被认为是由感器介导的反应。这种限制很有用，因为味觉感器中的一些受体蛋白也存在于其他地方。
