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Science 31 March 1972:
Vol. 175. no. 4029, pp. 1491 - 1493
DOI: 10.1126/science.175.4029.1491
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Articles

Silk Moth Eclosion: Hormonal Triggering of a Centrally Programmed Pattern of Behavior

James W. Truman 1 and Philip G. Sokolove 2

1 Biological Laboratories, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138
2 Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305

The emergence of the adult cecropia silk moth from the pupal skin involves a stereotyped series of abdominal movements—the pre-eclosion behavior. This behavior, triggered by a neurosecretory hormone, consists of three phases that are characterized by the relative frequency and pattern of movements. Electrical recordings from a nerve cord with severed peripheral nerves demonstrate that the pre-eclosion behavior is prepatterned in the abdominal ganglia. In response to the hormone, the entire 1.25-hour behavioral program can be activated and "read off" in the absence of sensory feedback.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Ecdysis: neural orchestration of a complex behavioral performance.
Carlson JR and D Bentley (1977)
Science 195, 1006-1008
   Abstract »    PDF »
Hormonal release of programmed behavior in silk moths: probable mediation by cyclic AMP.
J. Truman, A. Fallon, and G. Wyatt (1976)
Science 194, 1432-1434
   Abstract »    PDF »


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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)