Insect Behaviour
Insect Behaviour - Related Videos
06:13
Dyeing Insects for Behavioral Assays: the Mating Behavior of Anesthetized Drosophila
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Cited by 8 •
2015
This protocol describes a simple, cost effective way to individually identify Drosophila or other insects. Demonstration data investigating mating success across three species of Drosophila show that this method is comparable or better than the use of CO2 anaesthesia.
10:19
Studying the Neural Basis of Adaptive Locomotor Behavior in Insects
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Cited by 12 •
2011
We describe a method to record motor activity, timed to the electrically recorded tarsal contact signal in a tethered insect, walking on a slippery surface. This is used to study the neural basis of adaptive behavior under reduced influence of mechanical interaction between legs through the substrate.
19:14
Early Metamorphic Insertion Technology for Insect Flight Behavior Monitoring
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Cited by 4 •
2014
We present a novel surgical procedure to implant electrodes in Manduca sexta during its early metamorphic stages. This technique allows mechanically stable and electrically reliable coupling with the neuromuscular tissue to study flight neurophysiology dynamics. We also present a novel magnetic levitation platform for tethered studies of insect yaw.
10:31
A Proboscis Extension Response Protocol for Investigating Behavioral Plasticity in Insects: Application to Basic, Biomedical, and Agricultural Research
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Cited by 64 •
2014
The Proboscis Extension Response (PER) conditioning protocol, developed for the honey bee (Apis mellifera), provides an ecologically-relevant and easily quantifiable means for studying several different mechanisms of learning in many insect species.
01:47
Osmoregulation in Insects
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2019
Malpighian tubules are specialized structures found in the digestive systems of many arthropods, including most insects, that handle excretion and osmoregulation. The tubules are typically arranged in pairs and have a convoluted structure that increases their surface area. Malpighian tubules extend from the digestive tract, typically the area between the midgut and hindgut, into the hemolymph—a mixture of blood and interstitial fluid found in insects and other arthropods, as well as most...
FAQs
Sensory systems detect environmental or social cues, while neural processes organize the immediate response and hormonal processes help regulate behaviour through internal states. This coordination allows an insect to adjust activities such as feeding, movement, mating, communication, or defense. Studying these linked processes helps explain how different influences produce coordinated behavioural outcomes.
Innate behaviour provides responses that arise through inherited programs, whereas learning allows behaviour to be shaped by experience. Insect behaviour research considers how these influences work together rather than treating responses as exclusively fixed or acquired. This distinction is important when interpreting feeding, navigation, communication, or defense under changing environmental conditions.
Temperature, chemicals, predators, habitat conditions, and interactions with other organisms can alter insect responses. These cues may influence movement, feeding, communication, mating, or defense by changing the conditions under which behaviour occurs. Examining such effects shows how environmental pressures shape behavioural variation and helps connect individual responses with survival and reproduction.
Research commonly examines social organization, navigation, foraging, communication, mating, defense, and responses to environmental change. Considering these patterns together reveals how insects obtain resources, interact with other organisms, and cope with risks. The resulting information supports broader interpretations of how behaviour contributes to survival, reproduction, and adaptation across ecological settings.
Behavioural findings can clarify how insects respond to chemicals, environmental conditions, resources, and other organisms. That knowledge is relevant to agriculture and pest management because it identifies behavioural processes connected with feeding, movement, communication, or reproduction. Understanding these responses can help researchers interpret how environmental pressures influence insect activity in managed settings.
Insect behaviour links individual responses with wider ecological and evolutionary processes. Studies of movement, foraging, social organization, and reactions to habitat change can show how insects respond to environmental pressures that affect survival and reproduction. These insights also support conservation by improving understanding of how changing habitats may influence insect behaviour and ecological interactions.