Although they do not look like noses,an insect's antennae serve mainly to detect odours.Flies and mosquitoes,for example,smell their food with their antennae.
Many female insects,such as butterflies,use their antennae to check for competing insect's eggs on the plants where they intend to lay their eggs.
Females and males of many families including honeybees,long horned beetles and moths use their antennae to detect the pheromones-scent molecules,that are released by potential mates.Their antennae also tell them which of their companions
have already mated.
Cockroaches find water or each other by detecting scents with their antennae.
Antennae have several other uses too.
Honeybees and ants touch antennae to distinguish between nest mates and intruders and to spread news about food sources and danger.
Mosquitoes antennae can also detect sound.
Scarab beetles,like the cockchafer sport multibranched antennae blades that spread widely apart during flight,determining wind direction and detecting any smells that would lead them to a food source.on the ground the beetle closes its antenna into a thin branch.
1.Identity Check:
Workers bees often touch antennae ,communicating by smell.
2.Food Alert:
A bee dances to announce a new source of nectar to nest mates and passes along a sample of the nectar.
3.Measurement:
Honeybees use their antennae to measure wall thicknesses as they build the hexagonal cells of their nests.
4.Flower Check:
Honey bees gather nectar from flower as a carbohydrate source and pollen as a protein source to raise the young.
5.Anatomy:
Bee antennae are two-part jointed stalks,containing several types of sensilla,or sensory organs.
Many female insects,such as butterflies,use their antennae to check for competing insect's eggs on the plants where they intend to lay their eggs.
Females and males of many families including honeybees,long horned beetles and moths use their antennae to detect the pheromones-scent molecules,that are released by potential mates.Their antennae also tell them which of their companions
have already mated.
Cockroaches find water or each other by detecting scents with their antennae.
Antennae have several other uses too.
Honeybees and ants touch antennae to distinguish between nest mates and intruders and to spread news about food sources and danger.
Mosquitoes antennae can also detect sound.
Scarab beetles,like the cockchafer sport multibranched antennae blades that spread widely apart during flight,determining wind direction and detecting any smells that would lead them to a food source.on the ground the beetle closes its antenna into a thin branch.
1.Identity Check:
Workers bees often touch antennae ,communicating by smell.
2.Food Alert:
A bee dances to announce a new source of nectar to nest mates and passes along a sample of the nectar.
3.Measurement:
Honeybees use their antennae to measure wall thicknesses as they build the hexagonal cells of their nests.
4.Flower Check:
Honey bees gather nectar from flower as a carbohydrate source and pollen as a protein source to raise the young.
5.Anatomy:
Bee antennae are two-part jointed stalks,containing several types of sensilla,or sensory organs.
