11 Chilopoda – Nervous system

Abstract

The nervous system of chilopods is divided into the central nervous system, composed of the brain and ventral nerve cord, and the peripheral nervous system with its projecting nerves. The central nervous system (brain or syncerebrum) is divided into the proto-, deuto-, and tritocerebrum. The peripheral nervous system is linked by nerves from the brain or ventral nerve cord to sense- and locomotion organs. The stomatogastric nervous system innervates the mouth- and the preoral region as well as the frontal part of the gut and carries both motor and sensory axons. In the Lithobiomorpha and Geophilomorpha, the ventral nerve cord innervates the heart via segmental heart nerves. Paired connective nerves leave the tritocerebrum posteriorly and merge with the subesophageal ganglion. As in other arthropods, the brain of Lithobius forficatus is enclosed within a neurilemma that serves as a barrier between it and the hemolymph. Keywords:central nervous system; Lithobiomorpha; Lithobius forficatus; subesophageal ganglion; tritocerebrum; ventral nerve cord