Distal Lobe of the Pilifer: An Ultrasonic Receptor in Choerocampine Hawkmoths

Abstract

Evidence is presented for a novel mechanism mediating the auditory sense in the Choerocampinae (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae). Vibrations in the scale-free medial wall of the enlarged labial palp segment are transmitted by contact to the distal lobe of the pilifer, a derivative of the labrum, and are there transduced into afferent impulses in the labral nerve.