Taste recognition through tarsal gustatory sensilla potentially important for host selection in leaf beetles (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae).

ABSTRACT: It is well known that Diptera and Lepidoptera can recognize tastes through their legs, which allows them to select suitable hosts. In Coleoptera, the largest insect order, however, the role of the legs in taste recognition to aid in host selection is unclear. In the present study, we investigated taste recognition through the legs of Chrysomelidae, Coleoptera. Through morphological observations, we found that all subfamilies of Chrysomelidae exhibit gustatory sensilla in the distal leg segment, i.e., the tarsus. In contrast, we did not find evidence of these sensilla in the species that we examined from four families of Coleoptera. We confirmed that different tastes, i.e., sweet, bitter, and leaf surface wax, were received through the tarsal sensilla of Chrysomelidae by recording the elect

SUBMITTER: Yosano S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7080798 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature