The equatorial sandhopper Talorchestia martensii uses the sun, the moon and the natural magnetic field as orienting compass references. In some arthropod species, the antennae are important for time compensated solar orientation. Therefore, we evaluated the role of antennae in solar, lunar and magnetic compass orientation in T. martensii. We released intact and antennaeless individuals in a Plexiglas bowl in the dark, and under the sun or moon, with and without the horizontal component of the magnetic field and recorded their orientation. For the tests under the moon, sandhoppers were released in conditions of modest azimuthal speed (10–15°/hr) and high azimuthal speed (≈ 59°/hr) of the moon. No significant difference in the orienting behaviour between antennaeless and intact individuals was observed. Therefore, the antennae do not seem to be involved in the sun or moon compass mechanisms of T. martensii. The photopositive responses showed by individuals released under high azimuthal speed of the moon and with the horizontal component of the magnetic field zeroed, indicate that the moon is probably not used as a chronometric compass reference in this species because of the variations in its azimuthal speed. This suggests a mechanism of photomenotaxis and therefore, a difference from sandhoppers from temperate latitudes that use a moon compass.

赤道沙漏Talorchestia martensii使用太阳、月亮和自然磁场作为定向指南针参考。在一些节肢动物物种中，触角对于时间补偿太阳方向很重要。因此，我们评估了触角在T. martensii中的太阳、月球和磁罗盘定向中的作用. 我们在黑暗中，在太阳或月亮下，在有和没有磁场水平分量的情况下，将完整无触角的个体释放到有机玻璃碗中，并记录了它们的方向。对于月球下的测试，沙漏在中等方位角速度（10-15°/小时）和高方位角速度（≈ 59°/小时）的月球条件下被释放。没有观察到无触角个体和完整个体之间的定向行为存在显着差异。因此，触角似乎不参与T. martensii的太阳或月亮罗盘机制. 在月球的高方位角速度下释放的个体和磁场的水平分量归零时所显示的光阳性反应表明，由于其方位角速度的变化，月球可能不用作该物种的计时罗盘参考。这表明存在趋光性机制，因此与使用月球罗盘的温带地区的沙漏有所不同。