What is the nervous system of an insect like?
1 Answer
The insects nervous system is a network of specialised neurons that serve as an "information highway" within the body.
Explanation:
In comparison to vertebrates, a insects nervous system is far more de-centralised. Most of feeding, locomotion, mating, etc is integrated and controlled by segmental ganglia instead of the brain. In some cases the brain may stimulate or inhibit activity in segmental ganglia, but these signals are not essential for survival.
Insects have a relatively simple Central Nervous System (CNS) consisting of a brain, sub oesophageal ganglion and a ventral nervous chord. The ventral nerve chord primitively consists of ganglia joined by a pair of longitudinal nerve chords. Various nerves extend from these ganglia to other organs. In general the CNS is rather ladder like in appearance. In advanced insect orders there is a tendency for individual ganglia to combine laterally and longitudinally into larger ganglia that serve multiple body segments.
