ELECTROPHYSIOLOGICAL AND BEHAVIORAL-RESPONSES TO LACTIC-ACID STIMULI IN LARVAE OF TENEBRIO-MOLITOR-L (COLEOPTERA, TENEBRIONIDAE) AND PERMEABILITY OF ANTENNAL SENSILLA

Of the five types of antennal sensilla in larvae of Tenebrio molitor L ., only the uniporous long pointed pegs and papillate plates are readi ly permeable to an aqueous solution of CoCl2, which is generally indic ative of a gustatory function. An electrophysiological investigation c onfirms the gustatory role of the papillate sensilla on the antenna, a nd it suggests that they are responsible for mediating the behaviour o f larvae toward lactic acid stimuli. Larvae with ablated antennae do n ot aggregate as would normal animals in the presence of lactic acid st imuli. The uniporous long pointed pegs show no response to lactic acid or other aqueous stimuli.