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With an appreciation by John G Hildebrand
Reprint of this slim landmark work first published in 1963, which remains invaluable to an understanding of the nervous mechanisms responsible for insect behaviour. In several elegant experiments - on the moth, the cockroach, and the praying mantis - Roeder shows how stimulus and behaviour are related through the nervous system and suggests that the insect brain appears to control behaviour by determining which of the various built-in activity patterns will appear in a given situation.
Coding and Complexity Methods of Studying Animal Behavior Communication The Tympanic-Nerve Response in Noctuid Moths Moths and Bats Tactics for Two Evasive Behavior in the Cockroach Discrimination Endogenous Activity of Neurons Endogenous Activity and Behavior Inside a Moth The Insect Brain Inhibition, Endogenous Activity, and Neural Parsimony References Index
Kenneth D. Roeder was a Professor of Physiology and Chairman of the Department of Biology, Tufts University.
How do nerve impulses that are generated by an insect's sensory cells determine its behaviour? Answers to this question had begun to emerge in the 1960s, when Kenneth Roeder wrote this short but insightful book. The volume consists of a series of self-contained essays which build an awesome account of how insects sense the world...The publication of this book was recognised as a landmark event 35 years ago. Its great depth of insight, explanatory power and unique charm ensure that it will continue to appeal to non-specialists and inspire researchers for many more years. A true classic. -- Glen Powell Antenna [UK] Praise for the first edition: Some of us have been lucky enough to be in a laboratory during a period when we felt, nay, when we knew, that a secret of Nature was being unraveled, that new relationships were being discovered and understood. There is an electric tension in the air, an exhilaration...and we become impatient with our own limitations of energy. That is 'contagious excitement,' and it can be found in this little book. -- Teru Hayashi Science
