EAPSI:Investigating an Unknown Sensory Structure in Eastern Leaf-dwelling Praying Mantises

感官系统在调节生物体中的作用？S环境对我们理解信息是如何被感知和处理至关重要的。一种潜在的新感觉器官--叉骨结节，是在一个叶栖螳螂(螳螂目，虹膜翅目)家族中被发现的，这些螳螂栖息在阔叶植被的底部，这是螳螂纲内一个独特的生态位。这项研究试图揭示感官所编码的环境信息。这项工作将与澳大利亚悉尼麦格理大学的行为学和生态学著名研究人员玛丽·赫伯斯坦博士和凯特·巴里博士合作进行。一种新的感觉器官的特征将提供对神经系统的进一步洞察，因为它们与生态位专门化有关。对胸骨外结节的初步调查显示，它表面有数量可变的关节表面毛发，这表明它具有机械感觉功能，组织切片发现结构中存在神经组织。将进行行为和神经生理学分析，以确定鸡胸骨结节调节哪些行为；来自该结构内神经组织的细胞外记录将最终证明该结构受到刺激时产生的神经活动。本研究力图揭示S？叉骨结节在群体内的生理作用？S独特的栖息地用途。该奖项由东亚和太平洋夏季学院项目资助一名美国研究生的暑期研究，由NSF和澳大利亚科学院联合资助。

The role sensory systems play in mediating an organism?s environment is critical to developing our understanding of how information is perceived and processed. A potentially new sensory organ, the furcasternal tubercle, was discovered within a family of leaf-dwelling praying mantises (Mantodea, Iridopterygidae) that reside on the undersides of broad-leaf vegetation, a unique ecological niche within Mantodea. This research seeks to uncover the environmental information that the sensory organ encode. The work will be conducted in collaboration with Drs. Marie Herberstein and Kate Barry, prominent researchers in ethology and ecology, at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. The characterization of a novel sensory organ will provide further insights into neural systems as they relate to ecological niche specialization.Preliminary investigations of the furcasternal tubercle revealed that it is surfaced with a variable number of articulating surface hairs, suggesting a mechanosensory function, and histological sectioning uncovered the presence of neural tissue within the structure. Behavioral and neurophysiological assays will be conducted to determine what behaviors the furcasternal tubercle modulates; extracellular recordings from the neural tissues within the structure will conclusively demonstrate the neural activity generated when the structure is stimulated. This research seeks to uncover the furcasternal tubercle?s physiological role within the context of the group?s unique habitat use. This award under the East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutes program supports summer research by a U.S. graduate student and is jointly funded by NSF and the Australian Academy of Science.