The suboesophageal ganglion (acronym: SOG; synonym: ''subesophageal ganglion'') of arthropods and in particular insects is part of the
arthropod central nervous system
The central nervous system (CNS) is the part of the nervous system consisting primarily of the brain and spinal cord. The CNS is so named because the brain integrates the received information and coordinates and influences the activity of all par ...
(CNS). As indicated by its name, it is located ''below the'' ''
oesophagus
The esophagus (American English) or oesophagus (British English; both ), non-technically known also as the food pipe or gullet, is an organ in vertebrates through which food passes, aided by peristaltic contractions, from the pharynx to the ...
'', inside the head. As part of the ventral nerve cord, it is connected (via pairs of connections) to the brain (or
supraoesophageal ganglion
The supraesophageal ganglion (also "supraoesophageal ganglion", "arthropod brain" or "microbrain") is the first part of the arthropod, especially insect, central nervous system. It receives and processes information from the first, second, and th ...
) and to the first
thoracic ganglion (or
protothoracic ganglion). Its nerves innervate the sensory organs and muscles of the
mouthparts and the
salivary glands. Neurons in the suboesophageal ganglion control movement of the head and neck as well.
It is composed of three pairs of fused
ganglia
A ganglion is a group of neuron cell bodies in the peripheral nervous system. In the somatic nervous system this includes dorsal root ganglia and trigeminal ganglia among a few others. In the autonomic nervous system there are both sympatheti ...
, each of which is associated with a pair of mouthparts. Therefore the fused parts are called the
mandibular,
maxillary and
labial
The term ''labial'' originates from '' Labium'' (Latin for "lip"), and is the adjective that describes anything of or related to lips, such as lip-like structures. Thus, it may refer to:
* the lips
** In linguistics, a labial consonant
** In zoolog ...
ganglia.
References
Insect anatomy
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