Receptor Potentials Recorded from Sensilla Basiconica on the Antenna of the Silkworm Larvae, Bombyx Mori

Abstract

1. The electrical responses of the sensilla basiconica on the antennae of the silkworm larva, Bombyx mori, have been studied by the microcapillary electrode technique. 2. Olfactory stimulation generally evokes a slow negative potential accompanied by increase in impulse frequency; but some agents evoke a slow diphasic potential, from negative to positive. 3. Strong vapours of anaesthetics evoke a slow positive potential with decrease in impulse frequency. 4. By comparison with the case of the labellar chemosensory hair of the blowfly, these results on the silkworm are explained in terms of depolarization or hyperpolarization of the receptor membrane.