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Nociceptive sensitization in Manduca sexta

Edgar T. Walters¹, Paul A. Illich¹, Janis C. Weeks² and Matthew R. Lewin¹

¹Department of Integrative Biology and Pharmacology, University of Texas-Houston Medical School, 6431 Fannin Street, Houston, TX 77030, USA
²Institute of Neuroscience, University of Oregan, Eugene, OR 9740, USA

Larval Manduca striking responses in the field.

Sensitized Manduca sexta strikes, cocks, and strikes again in response to soft touch. The touch was delivered 5 minutes after the larva had been pinched. Advance the frames slowly to see the brief cocking movement to the left between the two strikes directed at the touch site. This was a wild specimen found on a chaste tree in the first author's garden.

Larval Manduca withdrawal, thrashing, and quivering behaviour in the laboratory.

Following sensitization by prior pinching, soft poke to the left side of abdominal segment 3 evokes an immediate withdrawal of the anterior body body followed by a swing towards the stimulus, and then two series each of low-amplitude quivering and large-amplitude thrashing cycles.

Larval Manduca thrashing during attack by avian predator in the field.

Female cardinal bites, misses the thrashing larva (note head swinging into view through holes in leaf), and then tries to sever and remove the leaf tip with larva attached. Later she succeeded. To see the larva thrashing under the tobacco leaf, slowly frame advance near the end of the clip.

End of the recorded attack on a Manduca larva.

After removing the larva from the tobacco leaf and biting it several times, the female cardinal wipes its beak repeatedly against the log, then dashes the limp larva against the log (you might notice drops of fluid flying from the body) before taking off with its prey. Could this be an attempt to diminish the content of potential toxins, such as nicotine, in the larva?

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