THE SENSORY NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE ADULT CATTLE TICK BOOPHILUS MICROPLUS (CANESTRINI) IXODIDAE PART II. SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY

Abstract

Abstract The morphology of the sensory receptors on tarsus I and on the mouthparts of the cattle tick Boophilus microplus were examined by means of scanning electron microscopy. Features not resolved by light microscopy were revealed. The number of sensilla and their morphology are unique to B. microplus though similar to those of other tick species already described. The sensory setae found include mechanoreceptors, contact and olfactory chemoreceptors. Of special interest, on each inner cheliceral digit, is a denticle bearing a papilla at its tip and a pit at its base. The functions of these two newly described features are not known but it seems likely that they may include contact chemoreceptors capable of tasting host tissue chemicals. These observations provide the foundation for transmission electron microscopy of the receptors, which is the subject of the third paper in this series.