Abstract
The ability to move is a characteristic of living animals and facilitates distribution, food procurement, location of a mate or egg-laying site, and avoidance of unsuitable conditions. Insects, largely through their ability to fly when adult, are among the most mobile and widely distributed of animals. Development of this ability early in the evolution of the class has made the Insecta the most diverse and successful animal group (see Chapter 2). However, flight is only one method of locomotion employed by insects. Terrestrial species may walk, jump, or crawl over the substrate, or burrow within it. Aquatic forms can swim in a variety of ways or run on the water surface.
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Literature
The nature and properties of insect muscle are discussed by Smith (1972) and by various authors in the treatise edited by Usherwood (1975). Walking is dealt with by Wilson (1966) and by Hughes and Mill (1974), who also review jumping, crawling, and burrowing. Nachtigall (1974) has reviewed locomotion of aquatic insects. Pringle’s (1957) monograph provides an excellent introduction to flight. More recent reviews of flight, based on his monograph, are given by Pringle (1968, 1974). Insect flight has also been the subject of a symposium, the proceedings of which were edited by Rainey (1976). Wilson (1968) has examined the nervous control of flight.
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© 1980 Plenum Press, New York
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Gillott, C. (1980). Muscles and Locomotion. In: Entomology. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-6915-2_14
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-6915-2_14
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