Antenna Morphology Impacts Drag Forces During Olfaction

Insects navigate environments to avoid predators, forage for food, and find mates via olfactory sensing using chemoreceptors on their antennae. Different species have evolved unique antennae morphologies; differences include sensilla density & structure, antennae curvature, segmentation, and size. We categorized the biomechanics of prototypical antennae for a honeybee, cockroach, cockroach nymph, locust, and parasitic wasp. Using numerical simulations of airflow around the antennae of different insects, we computed antennal drag forces and compared them with that of an idealized cylinder shape. We find that morphological differences contribute to varying drag forces across species. Understanding drag forces are foundational to facilitating studies of antenna morphology impacting energetics during olfactory navigation.