Insects have a variety of sense organs that allow them to perceive their environment. These include mechanoreceptors for touch, chemoreceptors for smell and taste, photoreceptors for vision, auditory receptors for hearing, and thermoreceptors and hygroreceptors for temperature and humidity. The main mechanoreceptors are tactile hairs, campaniform organs, and chordotonal organs. Chemoreceptors are located on antennae, mouthparts, tarsi, and other body parts. Photoreceptors include compound eyes, dorsal and lateral ocelli. Auditory receptors include tympanal organs and tactile hairs. Thermoreceptors and hygrorecept

1. SENSE ORGANS OF INSEC S AND
THEIR STRUCTURE
SUBMITTED BY SUBMITTED TO
Manish Kumar pal Mr. RAJENDRA REGMI
MSC.AG(Entomology) DEPARTMENT OF ENTOMLOGY
1st semester AFU,RAMPUR

2. Introduction
• The sensory organs are primarily responsible
for the reception of stimuli and pass them on
to the neuro-muscular system, resulting in the
varied behavior patterns of insects.
• Insects can perceive light, sound, scent,
gravity and temperature in minute quantities
often far beyond what can be detected by
other animals.

3. Types of sense organs in insect:
1. Mechanoreceptors
2. Auditory receptors
3. Chemo-receptors
4. Thermo receptors
5. Photo receptors

4. 1.Mechanoreceptors:
Respond to the sense of
touch due to contact with
external solid objects,
current of air and water or
even because of internal
body pressure.
The principal
mechanoreceptors are:
i. The tactile organs or
trichoid sensilla
ii. The campaniform organs
iii. The chordotonal organs

5. I. Tactile organs or trichoid sensilla
• Formed by two cells
Hair: by Trichogen cell
Socket:by Tormogen cell
• The dendrite of the neuron is
enclosed at the base of the
hair by a cuticular tubular
sheath,called scolopale.
• It is in some cases provided
with a distal cap called
scolopale cap.
• It is present on antennae,
tarsi,tibia and cerci of an
insect.

6. ii. The campaniform organs
• Cannot be seen
externally but
recognized from
dome shaped
cuticle areas
• They occur in
various parts of
body like wing-
base,halters,cerci,
palp and base of
trochanter,femora,
tibia & tarsal
segments.

7. iii. The chordotonal organs
• Consist of single unit or group of
similar units, called Scolopidia.
• They are present in legs at
femoral,distal tibial and tibio-
tarsal regions, in abdomen and
wing base.
• Each scolopidia consists of three
cells
a.Neuron
b.Scolopale cell
c.Cap cell
• Specialized chordotonal organ
a.Johnston’s organ
b.Auditory or Tympanal organ

8. 2. Chemoreceptor (detect smell and
taste)
Chemoreceptor is sensitive to chemicals, stimulation
by chemicals can occur in the following different
ways:
1. Olfactory or smell chemoreceptor: They provide
sense of smell. Mechanism of perception of
chemicals in gaseous state at high concentration is
known as olfaction.
2. Gustatory or contact chemoreceptor: They
provide sense of taste. Mechanism of perception of
chemicals in liquid state at high concentration as
known as contact chemoreceptor.

9. Location of chemoreceptor
Organs of taste are common on
I. The mouthparts, especially the palps,
II. The antennae (Hymenoptera),
III. Tarsi (many Lepidoptera, Diptera, and the honeybee),
IV. Ovipositor (parasitic Hymenoptera and some Diptera) and
V. General body surface.
Organs of smell are located on
i. The antennae are the primary site of olfactory organs and often bear many
thousands of these structures.
ii. The mouthparts also carry olfactory structures in many species.

11. 3. Photoreceptors (detect light
energy)
• Ability to perceive light in visible or near visible
range of the electromagnetic spectrum.
• Organism have to be a pigment capable of
absorbing light of a given wave length and a means
of producing a nervous impulse as a result of this
absorption.
Three types of photoreceptive structures found in
insects:
A. Compound eyes
B. Dorsal ocelli
C. Lateral ocelli (stemmata)

12. A. Compound eyes
• Compound eyes occur in most
adult and hemi-metabolous
larvae on either side of the head
capsule.
• The compound eyes are
composed of a large number of
alike structural units called
ommatidium. The number of
ommatidium varies from insect to
insects.
• Absent is some groups:
a) ancient insect orders (e.g. Protura,
Diplura)
b) wingless parasite adults (lice,
fleas)
c) subterranean termites
d) female scale-insects
e) cave-dwelling forms (sensitivity to
light over the general body surface)

13. B. Dorsal ocelli: Visual organs of
nymph and it vary from 0-3 in
numbers. It contains a single
corneal lens with many visual
cells individually secreting the
rhabdomere. Dorsal ocelli
perceive light to maintain diurnal
rhythm and is not involved in
image perception
C. Lateral ocelli (Stemmata):
Visual organs of holometabolous
larva. Structure is similar to
ommatidium. It helps to detect
form, colour and movement, and
also to scan the environment

14. 4. Auditory receptors (detect sound
waves)
i. Delicate tactile hairs: Present in plumose antenna of male
mosquito.
ii. Tympanum: This is a membrane stretched across tympanic
cavity responds to sounds produced at some distance,
transmitted by airborne vibration.
• Tympanal membranes are linked to chordotonal organs
that enhance sound reception.
• Tympanal organs are located
* Between the metathoracic legs of mantids.
* The metathorax of many nectuid moths.
* The prothoracic legs of many orthopterans.
* The abdomen of short horned grasshopper and cicada.
* The wings of certain moths and lacewings.

15. 5. Thermoreceptors (detect heat)
• Present in poikilothermic insects and
sensitive to temperature changes.
• Qualities like warm and cold are most
important for poikilothermic
organisms like insects that cannot
maintain a constant body temperature.
• Therefore, insects try to find an
ambient environment, for instance in
the shade, if it is hot, in order to keep
the body at a suitable temperature.
• During early morning hours
butterflies can be observed, spreading
and directing their wings towards the
sun so that the radiant solar energy
influences their body temperature.

16. 6. Hygro-receptors (detect humidity)
• Insects are able to
monitor the amount of
water/vapor in the
surrounding air.
• Insects actively seek out a
preferred humidity or
sources of liquid water.
• Humidity detectors are
typically located on the
antennae, though they
occur on the spiracles and
their surroundings

17. Conclusion
• Insects like ourselves, are responsive to many stimuli in
their surroundings, such as light, heat, touch, chemicals,
and vibrations.
• All insects have sense organs that allow them to see,
smell, taste, hear, and touch their environment.
• It is concluded that insects see what we see, hear what
we hear, smell what we smell, etc .
• They have a variety of receptors which, when
stimulated, pass information in the form of nervous
signals to the central nervous system of the insect.
• The number of signals that are sent will depend on how
strongly the receptor is stimulated and for how long,
and the actions of the insect will vary accordingly.

18. References:
Ali, R. Introduction to Entomology. Sense organs of insect. Department of
Entomology, Sher e-Bangla Agricultural University.Pp1-9
Gopfert, M. C., & Robert, D. (2001). Active auditory mechanics in
mosquitoes. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological
Sciences, 268(1465), 333-339.
Hoy, R. R., & Robert, D. (1996). Tympanal hearing in insects. Annual review of
entomology, 41(1), 433-450.
Merritt, D. J. (2006). The organule concept of insect sense organs: sensory
transduction and organule evolution. Advances in Insect Physiology, 33, 192-
241.
Minet, J., & Surlykke, A. (2003). 11. Auditory and sound producing
organs. Lepidoptera, moths and butterflies, 2, 289-323.
Ragumoorthi,K.N.,V.Balasubramani,M.R.Srinivasan&N.Natarajan.Fundamentals
of Entomology.Department of Agricultural Entomology. Pp:49-51