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Antenna (zoology)
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<p>Antennae (sg.: antenna) (sometimes referred to as "feelers") are paired <a href="/facts/Appendage/lFv11d3f">appendages</a> used for <a href="/facts/Sensory_system/05dM9sTQ">sensing</a> in <a href="/facts/Arthropod/JKJLTFzp">arthropods</a>. </p><p>Antennae are connected to the first one or two <a href="/facts/Segmentation_(biology)/S4Cw0UcN">segments</a> of the arthropod head. They vary widely in form but are always made of one or more jointed segments. While they are typically <a href="/facts/Sensory_organ/n9kYQ3rf">sensory organs</a>, the exact nature of what they sense and how they sense it is not the same in all groups. Functions may variously include sensing <a href="/facts/Tactition/0nhRsBnt">touch</a>, air motion, heat, vibration (sound), and especially <a href="/facts/Insect_olfaction/swb7RyLo">smell</a> or <a href="/facts/Gustation/mdB8ysuK">taste</a>. Antennae are sometimes modified for other purposes, such as mating, brooding, swimming, and even anchoring the arthropod to a <a href="/facts/Substrate_(biology)/EBDd458H">substrate</a>. Larval arthropods have antennae that differ from those of the adult. Many crustaceans, for example, have free-swimming <a href="/facts/Larvae/GKo2FIew">larvae</a> that use their antennae for swimming. Antennae can also locate other group members if the insect lives in a group, like the <a href="/facts/Ant/CyxckAAE">ant</a>. The common ancestor of all arthropods likely had one pair of <a href="/facts/Uniramous/Lhs5yVca">uniramous</a> (unbranched) antenna-like structures, followed by one or more pairs of <a href="/facts/Biramous/Lhs5yVca">biramous</a> (having two major branches) leg-like structures, as seen in some modern <a href="/facts/Crustacean/PBobIVJP">crustaceans</a> and fossil <a href="/facts/Trilobite/Tk8ppaKc">trilobites</a>. Except for the <a href="/facts/Chelicerata/9YNa15kz">chelicerates</a> and <a href="/facts/Protura/NqGI8jv6">proturans</a>, which have none, all non-crustacean arthropods have a single pair of antennae. </p>