Contact Chemoreception

Abstract

In insects the chemistry of the environment is a dominant modality mediating adaptive behavior, including the choice of food and feeding, avoidance of danger, location of a sexual partner and the choice of a habitat for the progeny. However, it is important to recognize that other environmental stimuli such as visual, tactile, temperature and humidity also are part of the total sensory input to the central nervous system (CNS). These perceptual mechanisms together with the internal state of the CNS, as influenced by earlier sensory perception or developmental processes, determine the insect's behavior. Chemoreception