Gustatory feedback affects feeding related motor pattern generation in starved 3rd instar larvae of Calliphora vicina

► Application of gustatory stimuli to the anterior sense organs causes an increase in neural activity in the maxillary- and antennal nerve. ► An appetitive stimulus (ethanol) consistently enhances the rhythmic motor patterns for food ingestion. ► The effect of an aversive stimulus (sodium acetate) appears to be state dependent. In a “passive” preparation it enhances, in an “active” it disrupts the motor patterns for food ingestion. ► The motor patterns for the protraction of the cephalopharyngeal skeleton are also affected by gustatory input.