3.1. Muscles and locomotion
As stated in section 1.3.4, much of the success of insects relates to their ability to sense, interpret, and move around their environment. Although the origin of flight at least 340 million years ago was a major innovation, terrestrial and aquatic locomotion also is well developed. Power for movement originates from muscles operating against a skeletal system, either the rigid cuticular exoskeleton or, in soft-bodied larvae, a hydrostatic skeleton.
