Antenna (biology)

For other uses, see Antenna.

Image:Insect antennae.jpg Antennae (singular antenna) are paired appendagesconnected to the front-most segmentsof arthropods. In crustaceans, they are biramousand present on the first two segments of the head, with the smaller pair known as antennules. All other arthropod groups, except cheliceratesand proturanswhich have none, have a single, uniramouspair of antennae.

Antennae are jointed, and generally extend forward from the head. They are sensory organs, although the exact nature of what they sense and how they sense it is not always clear. It appears that their function may include sensing touch, air motion, heat, vibration (sound), and olfaction(smell or taste).

In insects, olfactory receptorson the antennae bind to odourmolecules, including pheromones. The neuronesthat possess these receptors signal this binding by sending action potentialsdown their axonsto the antennal lobein the brain. From there, neurons in the antennal lobes connect to mushroom bodiesthat identify the odour.

The three basic segments of insect antennae are the scape (base), the pedicel (stem), and finally the flagellum, which comprises many units known as flagellomeres.de:Fühler (Biologie) nl:Antenne (insect) uk:?????? (????????)

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It uses material from the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antenna+%28biology%29 Wikipedia article Antenna (biology).