138 - Functional Morphology of Antennal Sensory Organs in the House Cricket, Acheta Domesticus

Poster Board Number: 138
There are separate poster presentation times for odd and even posters.
Odd poster #s – first hour
Even poster #s – second hour

Abstract Body : Insects, like most organisms, use their olfactory (smell) system to detect and analyze environmental cues. Their antennae bear olfactory sensory organs (sensilla) containing neurons that encode and process olfactory stimuli. Such stimuli can trigger behaviors, such as orientation toward food, mating partners, and avoidance of predators. House crickets make excellent model systems in neuroscience as they, like other insects, have moderately complex nervous systems and bear a rich behavioral repertoire. House crickets are generally considered to be pests. Due to their omnivorous feeding preference, they can potentially contaminate food sources with their fecal matter. Additionally, their audible chirping noises are very annoying. The aim of this study was to determine the morphology of the antennal olfactory organs, as well as the behavior elicited by several essential oils known to elicit repellency or movement away from the odorant source (i.e., negative anemotaxis) in some insects. More specifically, we tested the essential oils of peppermint, citronellal, eucalyptus, lavender, lemon eucalyptus, wintergreen, and orange. We hypothesized that some of these essential oils would act as repellents. We found that peppermint oil and lemon eucalyptus oil were similarly strongly repellent. Eucalyptus oil and citronellal oil were only moderately repellent individually, but when combined (lemon eucalyptus oil), were strongly repellent. Lavender oil was strongly repellent but not as potent as lemon eucalyptus and peppermint. Wintergreen oil and orange oil appeared to be similarly moderately repellent. Some of the repellent compounds may be useful for applied researchers to develop olfactory repellent traps to deter crickets from entering homes and contaminating food sources.