Skip Navigation



Chemical Senses Advance Access published online on December 8, 2005
Chemical Senses, doi:10.1093/chemse/bjj009
This Article
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
31/2/93    most recent
bjj009v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Koehl, M.A.R.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Koehl, M.A.R.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2005. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org
Accepted November 9, 2005

Article

The Fluid Mechanics of Arthropod Sniffing in Turbulent Odor Plumes

M.A.R. Koehl 1 *

1 Department of Integrative Biology, 3060 VLSB, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-3140, USA

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
M.A.R. Koehl, E-mail: cnidaria{at}socrates.berkeley.edu


  Abstract

Many arthropods capture odorant molecules from the environment using antennae or antennules bearing arrays of chemosensory hairs. The penetration of odorant-carrying water or air into the spaces between these chemosensory hairs depends on the speed at which they are moved through the surrounding fluid. Therefore, antennule flicking by crustaceans and wing fanning by insects can have a profound impact on the odorant encounter rates of the chemosensory sensilla they bear; flicking and fanning are examples of sniffing. Odors are dispersed in the environment by turbulent wind or water currents. On the scale of an antenna or antennule, an odor plume is not a diffuse cloud but rather is a series of fine filaments of scent swirling in odor-free water. The spatiotemporal pattern of these filaments depends on distance from the odor source. The physical interaction of a hair-bearing arthropod antennule with the surrounding fluid affects the temporal patterns of odor concentration an animal intercepts when it sniffs in a turbulent odor plume.

Keywords: antenna; antennule; flick; olfaction; sniff; turbulence.
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 J. Exp. Biol.Home page
M. A. Reidenbach, N. George, and M. A. R. Koehl
Antennule morphology and flicking kinematics facilitate odor sampling by the spiny lobster, Panulirus argus
J. Exp. Biol., September 1, 2008; 211(17): 2849 - 2858.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Biol. Bull.Home page
S. Santagata
Evolutionary and Structural Diversification of the Larval Nervous System Among Marine Bryozoans
Biol. Bull., August 1, 2008; 215(1): 3 - 23.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Biol. Bull.Home page
P. C. Daniel, M. Fox, and S. Mehta
Identification of Chemosensory Sensilla Mediating Antennular Flicking Behavior in Panulirus argus, the Caribbean Spiny Lobster
Biol. Bull., August 1, 2008; 215(1): 24 - 33.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Integr. Comp. Biol.Home page
S. M. Swartz, K. S. Breuer, and D. J. Willis
Aeromechanics in aeroecology: flight biology in the aerosphere
Integr. Comp. Biol., July 1, 2008; 48(1): 85 - 98.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J. Exp. Biol.Home page
P. Denissenko, S. Lukaschuk, and T. Breithaupt
The flow generated by an active olfactory system of the red swamp crayfish
J. Exp. Biol., December 1, 2007; 210(23): 4083 - 4091.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Biol. Bull.Home page
D. Mellon Jr
Combining Dissimilar Senses: Central Processing of Hydrodynamic and Chemosensory Inputs in Aquatic Crustaceans
Biol. Bull., August 1, 2007; 213(1): 1 - 11.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.