Wacky Insect Factoids

Sherry Seethaler

My (Six) Aching Knees

Do insects experience pain if you mistreat them? Will they know pain in any way relative to a human’s experience of pain?

Two scientific papers summarize the lack of consensus on this matter. One claims that invertebrate organisms do not experience pain (Nature, September 13, 2001). The other states that invertebrates might suffer the same way as vertebrates (Animal Welfare, February 2001).

Insects and other invertebrates certainly can detect noxious things in their environments. For example, they withdraw from toxic chemicals and hot surfaces, and they attempt to escape mechanical compression. Avoidance or escape behavior could indicate that an insect is in pain. On the other hand, ...