Antenna (biology)

Antennae (sg.: antenna), sometimes referred to as "feelers", are paired appendages used for sensing in arthropods.

Antennae are connected to the first one or two segments of the arthropod head. They vary widely in form but are always made of one or more jointed segments. While they are typically sensory organs, the exact nature of what they sense and how they sense it is not the same in all groups. Functions may variously include sensing touch, air motion, heat, vibration (sound), and especially smell or taste.^[1]^[2] Antennae are sometimes modified for other purposes, such as mating, brooding, swimming, and even anchoring the arthropod to a substrate.^[2] Larval arthropods have antennae that differ from those of the adult. Many crustaceans, for example, have free-swimming larvae that use their antennae for swimming. Antennae can also locate other group members if the insect lives in a group, like the ant. The common ancestor of all arthropods likely had one pair of uniramous (unbranched) antenna-like structures, followed by one or more pairs of biramous (having two major branches) leg-like structures, as seen in some modern crustaceans and fossil trilobites.^[3] Except for the chelicerates and proturans, which have none, all non-crustacean arthropods have a single pair of antennae.^[4]

^ Chapman, R.F. (1998). The Insects: Structure and Function (4th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 8–11. ISBN 978-0521570480.
^ ^a ^b Boxshall, Geoff; Jaume, D. (2013). Functional Morphology and Diversity: Antennules and Antennae in the Crustacea. Oxford University Press. pp. 199–236. doi:10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780195398038.003.0007.
^ Fortey, Richard A.; Thomas, Richard H . (1998). Arthropod Relationships: Phylogenetic Analysis (1st ed.). The Systematics Association. p. 117. ISBN 978-94-011-4904-4.
^ Cotton, Trevor J.; Braddy, Simon J. (2004). "The phylogeny of arachnomorph arthropods and the origin of the Chelicerata". Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. 94 (3): 169–193. doi:10.1017/S0263593300000596. S2CID 54841296.

[The_Insects-1] Chapman, R.F. (1998). The Insects: Structure and Function (4th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 8–11. ISBN 978-0521570480.

[Crustacea-2] Boxshall, Geoff; Jaume, D. (2013). Functional Morphology and Diversity: Antennules and Antennae in the Crustacea. Oxford University Press. pp. 199–236. doi:10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780195398038.003.0007.

[3] Fortey, Richard A.; Thomas, Richard H . (1998). Arthropod Relationships: Phylogenetic Analysis (1st ed.). The Systematics Association. p. 117. ISBN 978-94-011-4904-4.

[4] Cotton, Trevor J.; Braddy, Simon J. (2004). "The phylogeny of arachnomorph arthropods and the origin of the Chelicerata". Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. 94 (3): 169–193. doi:10.1017/S0263593300000596. S2CID 54841296.

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