{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,21]],"date-time":"2026-10-21T14:10:37Z","timestamp":1792591837604,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":48,"publisher":"The Royal Society","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,1]],"date-time":"2025-08-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1754006400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,1]],"date-time":"2025-08-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1754006400000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"National Science Foundation Biological Science Directorate"},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000002","name":"National Institutes of Health","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000002","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["royalsocietypublishing.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Biol. Lett."],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2025,8]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>\n                    Noxious (harmful) stimuli are detected by a specialized sensory process known as nociception, which typically evokes defensive behaviours to minimize tissue damage. While sensitization of nocifensive responses by intense or repetitive stimuli is well-documented in insects, instances of deliberate nociceptive suppression are relatively unexplored, particularly within natural behavioural contexts. Here, we describe a behavioural state in the tobacco hornworm (\n                    <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Manduca sexta<\/jats:italic>\n                    ), termed the \u2018sphinx\u2019 state, characterized by a distinct ventrally curled posture of the head and thorax following gentle disturbance. One of the striking characteristics of this state is that the larvae exhibit reduced responsiveness to noxious stimuli, indicating nociceptive downregulation. We also observe an overall reduced behavioural responsiveness to innocuous stimuli. Our surgical experiments show that the cerebral ganglion is essential to initiate the sphinx state. Overall, this discovery reveals a novel instance of active behavioural modulation in insects and highlights the flexibility of nociceptive responses, challenging the notion of nociception as strictly hard-wired and stereotyped.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1098\/rsbl.2025.0124","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,19]],"date-time":"2025-08-19T23:06:09Z","timestamp":1755644769000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1098\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Caterpillars suppress nocifensive behaviours during the quiescent \u2018sphinx\u2019 state"],"prefix":"10.1098","volume":"21","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8416-1044","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Gayathri","family":"Kondakath","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biology, Tufts University","place":["Medford, USA"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Isabel M.","family":"Messinger","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biology, Tufts University","place":["Medford, USA"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Annushka","family":"Veliko-Shapko","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biology, Tufts University","place":["Medford, USA"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1782-7373","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Barry","family":"Trimmer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biology, Tufts University","place":["Medford, USA"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"175","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,20]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_3_8_2_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1046\/j.1365-2311.1997.00042.x"},{"key":"e_1_3_8_3_2","volume-title":"Avoiding attack: the evolutionary ecology of crypsis, aposematism, and mimicry","author":"Ruxton GD","year":"2019","unstructured":"Ruxton GD, Allen WL, Sherratt TN, Speed MP. 2019 Avoiding attack: the evolutionary ecology of crypsis, aposematism, and mimicry. 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