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Don’t reach for the bug spray: scientists find insects may feel pain after crickets nurse sore antennae (www.theguardian.com)
submitted 5 months ago by to c/science@lemmy.world
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The behavioural cue of ‘flexible self-protection’ is a way to establish whether an animal feels pain, scientists say

Crickets that received the hot probe “overwhelmingly” directed their attention to the affected antenna – they groomed it more frequently, and tended to it over a longer period of time, he says. “They weren’t just agitated and flustered. They were directing their attention to the actual antennae that was hit with this hot probe.”

Link to the paper

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[–] 5 points 5 months ago (6 children)

I don't know whether they do or not but they have very primitive nervous systems and just responding to bodily trauma or negative stimuli does not inherently imply feeling pain

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  • [–] 7 points 5 months ago (4 children)

    But the fact that they do, just like we do, should be an indication of them feeling pain, so I don't understand why people would assume the opposite. They have made every indication of feeling pain before we knew about nervous systems and all this modern stuff, so I really don't get it.

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  • [–] 12 points 5 months ago (1 child)

    They do but not like mammals do. Injury occurs, their nervous system responds, but their “brain” does not register it to the same degree it would in animals with more evolved brains. This video is a good example of the processing power of insect “brains”. The mantis is processing “eat” and the pain of being gnawed in half simply can’t over power the drive to eat. There’s not a mammal or bird that would ignore being chewed in half just because it was enjoying a succulent meal. Recognizing that different animals process pain in a way different from others is not license to disregard their pain or lessen the suffering, it’s just acknowledging that different systems process hurting in a different manner.

    https://youtube.com/shorts/-P9rlovvbjQ

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