Do insects feel pain?

[Nick Greatorex-Davies]

Many thanks for all the replies on this one - much appreciated as I
continue to develop a rational and informed approach to insect
collecting and one I can communicate to others (or at least try to).

Best wishes to all
Nick G-D

Nick Greatorex-Davies
Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Monks Wood, Huntingdon UK.

>>> Woody Woods <woody.woods at umb.edu> 27/05/05 04:45:32 >>>
Sorry to add this so late-- been tied up-- but, about insects often
showing
"little outward sign of distress" after serious injury:

A few years back, someone in the lab where I did undergraduate research
was
measuring the pumping rate of the cibariopharyngal (nectar) pump in the
moth
M. sexta. To do this, he had to remove the heads of quite a few moths
that
were chilled before surgery. Since he needed only the heads, he set the
rest
aside. The headless moths, once they returned to room temperature,
behaved
as though they did not miss their heads much; they walked, shivered
their
wings to warms up, flew-- and, in one case, mated, though possibly
only
because they were in a small container.

Yikes. 

Woody 

> From: Kenelm W Philip <fnkwp at aurora.alaska.edu>
> Reply-To: fnkwp at aurora.alaska.edu 
> Date: Mon, 23 May 2005 21:46:46 -0800 (AKDT)
> To: LEPS-L at lists.yale.edu 
> Subject: Re: Do insects feel pain?
> 
> 
> Doug Yanega appears to have answered this question--but it might
> be worth adding the following quote from Snodgrass (Principles of
> Insect Morphology, 1935): "Insects are not known to have any
> specific organs for the perception of temperature, though they are
> highly responsive to temperature changes, nor are they known to
> have pain receptors or proprioceptors other than the terminal
> endings of sensory nerve fibers on the skin, muscles, and other
> tissues." (p. 512).
> 
> As regards insects' ability to 'show very little outward sign of
> distress' after serious injury, consider the male praying mantis
> who continues to copulate after the female removes his head.
> This has nothing to do with pain, of course--since one can't feel
> pain without one's head--but it does indicate that insects work in
> very different ways than vertebrates...
> 
> Like Doug, I have had a situation in which my ability to feel pain
> in a localized area was destroyed (for some time). This was the
> consequence of removing a wisdom tooth--a nerve was scraped
> resulting in my total inability to feel pain in part of my lower
lip.
> I could feel pressure, but not pain. (I referred to this as
'iatrogenic
> leprosy'). Fortunately, this condition did not last more than a
> few months, since I was continually biting my lip by accident.
> A vague feeling of pressure was not enough to prompt me to
> instantly stop a bite.
> 
> Ken Philip
> 
> 
> 
> 
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