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.”
“Hey, Bill! Look! Look at this cricket when I stick its antenna with the hot probe! Look! See what it does? Look, I’ll do it again. Doesn’t like it, does it? I’ll just check it again. Nope! Wow! That reaction was a doozy! Hey, go get Eileen! She’d wanna see this, too! Hey, buddy! Here comes the hot probe … !”