<P> Antennae (singular: antenna), sometimes referred to as "feelers," are paired appendages used for sensing in arthropods . </P> <P> Antennae are connected to the first one or two segments of the arthropod head . They vary widely in form, but are always made of one or more jointed segments . While they are typically sensory organs, the exact nature of what they sense and how they sense it is not the same in all groups . Functions may variously include sensing touch, air motion, heat, vibration (sound), and especially smell or taste . Antennae are sometimes modified for other purposes, such as mating, brooding, swimming, and even anchoring the arthropod to a substrate . Larval arthropods have antennae that differ from those of the adult . Many crustaceans, for example, have free - swimming larval forms that use their antennae for swimming . </P> <P> The common ancestor of all arthropods likely had one pair of uniramous (unbranched) antenna - like structures, followed by one or more pairs of biramous (having two major branches) leg - like structures, as seen in some modern crustaceans and fossil trilobites . Except the chelicerates and proturans, which have none, all non-crustacean arthropods have a single pair of antennae . </P>

The antennae of insects have a function most similar to that of
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