The Role of the Gustatory System in the Coordination of Feeding

Abstract

Visual Abstract

Preference and effect of gustatory sense on sugar-feeding of fire ants

“…Insects have a complex gustatory system and consists of different body appendages e.g ., mouthparts, legs, palps and wings ( Amrein & Thorne, 2005 ; Stocker, 1994 ; Thoma, Kobayashi & Tanimoto, 2017 ; Yosano et al, 2020 ). Feeding ethogram of insects has a specialized sequence for acceptance and intake of food ( Thoma et al, 2016 ).…”

“…When hungry insects come across food, then immediately stop their movement of body appendages and performed the following behaviors. First, insects must decide if food is acceptable or not; second, indeed they have a systematic feeding sequence, and third, locomotion of body appendages slow and stop so that they can only focus on feeding ( Dethier & Elizabeth, 1977 ; Joseph & Carlson, 2015 ; Thoma, Kobayashi & Tanimoto, 2017 ). Feeding sequence explains the main role of antennae, mouthparts, legs and ovipositor in gustatory taste ( Araya & Padilla, 2020 ; Thoma, Kobayashi & Tanimoto, 2017 ).…”

A neural circuit arbitrates between perseverance and withdrawal in hungry Drosophila

“…Seeds et al have shown this beautifully on the example of grooming behavior (Seeds et al, 2014). Multiple studies have analyzed the neuronal mechanisms underlying attraction to food and food seeking, food finding, and feeding itself in Drosophila and other animals (Thoma et al, 2017). Nevertheless, how these behaviors that are typically mutually exclusive and consecutive, relate and regulate each other is not well understood as prior work has focused primarily on long-term effects of hunger and feeding (Pool and Scott, 2014;Su and Wang, 2014).…”

“…Satiety counteracts the drive to find food, but a too small or not palatable food source should quickly re-induce food search, as it can be considered a reward prediction error. Similarly, feeding itself represents a series of consecutive behaviors that are, in part, mutually exclusive, and suppress or are suppressed by locomotion (Mann et al, 2013;Thoma et al, 2016;Thoma et al, 2017). Moreover, ingestion is regulated by feeding through a group of cholinergic interneurons that receive pharyngeal taste information (i.e.…”

“…However, only internal nutrient levels will provide reliable feedback about the quality and quantity of a food source, and ultimately suppress food seeking behaviors (Dethier, 1976;Thoma et al, 2016;Yang et al, 2015). Therefore, food odor, the taste of food, and post-ingestion internal feedback signals induce sequential and antagonistic behaviors (Thoma et al, 2017) perhaps in analogy to grooming behavior, which is organized in a highly sequential manner with hierarchical suppression of distinct motor programs (Seeds et al, 2014). Interestingly, these chemosensory and internal feedback systems appear to converge in the MB (Cohn et al, 2015;Krashes et al, 2009;Lewis et al, 2015).…”