Can anyone tell me what this pair of bristles found associated with every spiracle in the kudzu bug are? A pair is always found near the spiracle and the "crater" around the base of the bristle almost looks like another spiracle.
In my opinion they could be trichoid (hairlike) sensilla (even if one seems to be more complex at its base). Which is their function? The bristle more distant from the spiracle, smooth-walled and arising from a shallow cuticular depression, could be a tactile receptor. Both sensilla could be probably related with functions of each spiracle (perhaps with its opening or closing - if the spiracle is provided with valves - depending on certain (also chemical) stimuli, e.g. in order to avoid damages to the spiracle or to the insect itself). Regards,
Rinaldo Nicoli
It looks like typical mechanosensory sensilla, this type of socket structure are very common for tactile and some wind-sensitive ones.
I strongly believe these are trichobothria. They are basically mechanosensory hairs, like the other contributors mentioned, but with a special function - they respond to air movements (mostly quite finely tuned to certain frequencies) and are thus hearing organs. For Pentatomoidea (where kudzu bug, as all Plataspididae, belongs to), the number and position of the abdominal trichoibothria is an important systematic character.
Best,
Viktor
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