Antenna

[Moeuk]

:cool:
Did you know that the antenna of the worker & queen has 10 annuli, and the drone has 11 annuli?


http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/ee168/mauricevaughan/Honey%20bee%20internal%20organs/Honey%20bees%20on%20flowers/Honey%20bee%20interest/Honey%20bee%20external%20anatomy/Wantenna2xx.jpg


http://api.photoshop.com/home_043035f843cc4467bc204d5b422362f0/adobe-px-assets/1827d8d4e6b74aa1a9f16966487a820c

This is an antenna that after decalcifying and clearing I mounted on a slide.

By the way do es anyone know how many sensillae there are on one single antenna?
The correct answer gets a Gold Star.

Moeuk:cool:

[Oldbee]

"sensullae there are on one single antenna?

Oldbee: 100,000?

The 'link' you provided was WAY to comlpicated to see the photo.

[Oldbee]

"Did you know that the antenna of the worker and queen has ten annuli, and the drone has 11 annuli?"

I am not at all surprised! There is one 'part' missing!

[Moeuk]

Hi Oldbee,

Nearly right. I am sorry about the shot but I could not get a close up of the sensillae on the annuli.

There are over 150,000 per antenna. I was staggered when I read that. But if one looks into the workings of the antenna you soon become aware of how little we know of the makeup of this beautiful insect.

The different sense receptors each giving a positive response to the brain of the bee, and the brain is extreamly small.

This has now made me think that I will lay out the antenna after maceration and phot (if I can) the sensillae on the antenna.

Just something different.

Moeuk:eek:

[Oldbee]

"But if one looks into the workings of the antenna, you soon become aware of how little we know of the make-up of this beautiful insect". --Moeuk

Isn't that the TRUTH! Perhaps those looking into the causes of CCD should look into,..'that'. But,.........that,...information/knowledge may be a 'few years' away.

By the way,....Moeuk. I put some distilled water into a 1 quart jar that was sitting on a basement window for,..almost 6 years in our Wisconsin weather. It was dry as a bone. About 4-5 weeks later, some fillamentous green algae appeared; it is growing now. Amazing 'stuff'!.

[Moeuk]

Hi

Its Moeuk here wih the continued Antenna saga.

I have taken a couple of shots of the antenna but nothing has come out to show the different types of sensilla. I think it would need to be studied under electron microscopy to obtain greater detail.

http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/ee168/mauricevaughan/Honey%20bee%20internal%20organs/Honey%20bees%20on%20flowers/Honey%20bee%20interest/Honey%20bee%20external%20anatomy/An1xx.jpg

http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/ee168/mauricevaughan/Honey%20bee%20internal%20organs/Honey%20bees%20on%20flowers/Honey%20bee%20interest/Honey%20bee%20external%20anatomy/Ant2.jpg

Just to remind me that the sense organs on the antenna are called sensilla, (sensors of different make-up that are connected to the nerves through the exoskeleton).

So what type of sensilla are there?

touch Sensilla trichodia Hairs
smell s. basiconica pegs
CO2 s. coeloconica pits
stress/strain s. campaniformia bells
smell s. placodea plates


So now we can begin to understand the workins of the antenna.
Just one more thing about the antenna is it contains the organ 'Organ of Johnstone' which is thought to detect wind velocity, and vibrations.

Remember that all over the bees body there are sense receptors, especially on the legs. That's another chapter.

Hope this has been of help in understanding our 'pets'.

Moeuk. :eek: