Morphology and distribution of sensilla on head appendages in the water beetle Hygrobia hermanni (Coleoptera: Adephaga: Hygrobiidae)

Abstract

Sensilla on head appendages were studied in detail for the first time in a member of the relict family Hygrobiidae (squeak beetles), closely related to Dytiscidae (diving beetles). Adult and third instar larval stage specimens of Hygrobia hermanni (Fabricius, 1775) were examined using scanning electron microscopy, focusing on antennae, palps and larval mandibles. In total, 37 sensilla subtypes are described, including 22 observed in the adult (basiconica: 3; Böhm's bristles: 2; circumvallate sensilla: 2; coeloconica: 10; ovoid placodea: 3; digitiform placodea: 2) and 16 in the larva (basiconica: 4; campaniformia: 1; chaetica: 4; coeloconica: 5; trichodea: 1; unnamed: 1). Only one subtype (of sensilla coeloconica) was shared between the adult and the larva. Autapomorphies of Hygrobiidae and Dytiscidae, and putatively shared derived characters (synapomorphies) of Hygrobiidae + Dytiscidae are discussed. Among the latter, the most remarkable is the acquisition of a special sensory field, located on the apical segment of the adult maxillary palp, subapically and postero-dorsally. This sensory field is made up of ovoid multiporous sensilla placodea otherwise present on the anterior (internal) surface of antennal segments, suggesting that in a common ancestor of Hygrobiidae and Dytiscidae, maxillary palps might have taken over enhanced capacities of longe-range molecule detection.