Nerve Cells and Insect Behavior: With an Appreciation by John G. Hildebrand, Revised edition - Softcover

Roeder, Kenneth D.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0674608011 ISBN 13: 9780674608016

Publisher: Harvard University Press, 1998

Synopsis

The strike of a praying mantis's forelegs is so fast that, once they are set in motion, the mantis cannot control its aim. How does it ever manage to catch a fly? A moth negotiating the night air hears the squeak of a hunting bat on the wing, and tumbles out of harm's way. How? Insects are ideal subjects for neurophysiological studies, and at its simplest level this classic book relates the activities of nerve cells to the activities of insects, something that had never been attempted when the book first appeared in 1963. In several elegant experiments-on the moth, the cockroach, and the praying mantis-Roeder shows how stimulus and behavior are related through the nervous system and suggests that the insect brain appears to control behavior by determining which of the various built-in activity patterns will appear in a given situation. This slim volume remains invaluable to an understanding of the nervous mechanisms responsible for insect behavior.

About this title

About the Author

Kenneth D. Roeder was a Professor of Physiology and Chairman of the Department of Biology, Tufts University.

Edition details

• Publisher: Harvard University Press
• Publication date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0674608011
• ISBN 13: 9780674608016
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 256