Antennal Sensilla Morphology and Flagellomere Addition in Nymphs and Adults of Hierodula patellifera Serville, 1839 (Mantodea: Mantidae)

<i>Hierodula patellifera</i> Serville is a predatory insect widely distributed in Asia. To better understand the morphology of the antennae of mantids, the antennal morphology, structure, and distribution of sensilla in nymphs and adults of <i>H. patellifera</i> were analyzed using scanning electron microscopy. The antennal morphology of nymphs and adults was similar and consisted of the scape, pedicel, and flagellum. Seven types and four subtypes of sensilla were identified (sensilla trichodea: StI, StII; sensilla basiconica: Sb; sensilla chaetica: Sc; sensilla coelocapitula: Sco; sensilla campaniformia: ScaI, ScaII; grooved peg sensilla: Sgp; Böhm's bristle: Bb), and an undefined cuticular structure was observed in nymphs. Based on the external morphology and distributional features of the sensilla, we proposed to divide the adult flagellum into six parts. Furthermore, the length of the antennae gradually increased with the growth of instars, and the most obvious individual growth of antennae occurred from the 5th- to 6th-instar nymphs; sexual dimorphism in antennal length width, and sensilla distribution becomes evident from the 7th instar, and compared to adult females, the adult males presented larger flagellomeres and a large number of grooved peg sensilla. We found that mantid antennae develop through the addition of new flagellomeres at their proximal and secondary division sections, and the similarities and differences were compared with other insects.