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Issue:ISSN 2095-1353
           CN 11-6020/Q
Director:Chinese Academy of Sciences
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Your Position :Home->Past Journals Catalog->2021年58 No.3

Antennal sensilla and ecological adaptations of female symbiotic fig wasps in Ficus semicordata
Author of the article:Key Laboratory of Forest Disaster Warning and Control in Yunnan Province, College of Biodiversity Co
Author's Workplace:Key Laboratory of Forest Disaster Warning and Control in Yunnan Province, College of Biodiversity Conservation, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming 650224, China; Yunnan University of Chinese Medicine, Kunming 650500, China
Key Words:Ficus semicordata; fig wasp community; female wasp; antennal sensilla; evolutionary adaptation; multiparous placoid sensilla; sensory index
Abstract:
[Objectives]  Sensing chemical cues from the environment is critical to the multispecies interactions and ecological guilds of fig wasps. The antennae, a significant sensory organ of fig wasps, have morphological adaptations that reflect the evolutionary pressure on this species for accurate host recognition and reproduction. This study aims to investigate the morphological diversity and ecological adaptation of different sensilla on the antennae of female fig wasps associated with Ficus semicordata, which hosts fig wasp colonies based on the private channel of only known case of pollination mutualism. [Methods]  The antennae and associated sensilla of five fig wasp species were observed by scanning electron microscopy and the sensilla type, ultramorphology, abundance and distribution of each species were compared. The correlation between the MPS surface area ratio and amounts of volatiles released during fig development was also analyzed. [Results]  The antenna of each wasp are geniculate, consisting of a scape, a pedicel, and a flagellum that differs in the number of flagellomeres. A significant difference between pollinating and non-pollinating fig wasps is that the latter have a spine-like expansion from the first flagellomere and sensilla obscurum on the dorsal surface of the pedicel. Ten morphological types of antennal sensilla, including sensilla trichodea, three types of sensilla chaetica, two types of sensilla basiconica, sensilla basiconic capitate peg, sensilla coeloconica, multiporous placoid sensilla and sensilla obscurum, were identified and described in the five species. Of the identified sensilla, sensilla coeloconica and sensilla obscurum occur only on the antennae of pollinating fig wasps, whereas sensilla trichodea and sensilla chaetica type 1 were both more abundant and found on the antennae of all five species. Sensilla basiconica and sensilla basiconic capitate peg occurr most often on the upper-middle part of the flagellum. Multiporous placoid sensilla show a circular arrangement and are distributed exclusively on the funicle and clava of the antennae. Furthermore, the sensory index tended to be lower in species in which oviposition occurred later. There is a significant positive correlation between the sensory index and amounts of volatile compounds released during fig development. [Conclusion]  The antennae and sensilla of fig wasps display morphological adaptations related to host identification and the detection of volatile compounds, particularly thickening and lengthening of multiparous placoid sensilla for trapping volatile odors. These results further understanding of the role of chemical mediation in promoting the stability of fig wasp colonies.
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