Why certain male grasshoppers have clubbed antennae?

The significance of clubbed antennae in grasshoppers was assessed by investigating the sensilla repertoire of 15 gomphocerine species. The influence of the diet type (graminivorous or polyphagous) and the apical thickening of antenna on the number of sensilla were tested. It appears that the antennal thickening has a stronger impact on the number of sensilla than the food mode. The species bearing clubbed antennae are globally low in olfactive and contact sensilla, maybe in relation with a more complex courtship, but are richer in mechanoreceptors, probably involved in the control of antenna movements. The food mode change from oligophagy to polyphagy is not associated to an increase in the number of olfactive or contact sensilla. In contrast, the high number of these sensilla in a monophagous grasshopper feeding on Ulex bushes is interpreted in the context of alkaloid detection. Copyright 2010 Académie des sciences. Published by Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved.