Advances in Insect Physiology publishes eclectic and thematic volumes containing important, comprehensive and in-depth reviews of all aspects of insect physiology. It is an essential reference source for invertebrate physiologists and neurobiologists, entomologists, zoologists and insect biochemists. First published in 1963, the serial is now edited by Steve Simpson and Jerome Casas to provide an international perspective. This thematic volume on insect integument and colour contributes to the revival of insect integrative biology. - Contributions from the leading researchers in entomology - Discusses physiological diversity in insects - Includes in-depth reviews with valuable information for a variety of entomology disciplines

Gillott’s thorough yet clear writing style continues to keep Entomology near the top of the class as a text for senior undergraduates, and for graduate students and professionals seeking an introduction to specific entomological topics. The author’s long-held belief that an introductory entomology course should present a balanced treatment of the subject is reflected in the continued arrangement of the book in four sections: Evolution and Diversity, Anatomy and Physiology, Reproduction and Development, and Ecology. For the third edition, all chapters have been updated. This includes not only the addition of new information and concepts but also the reduction or exclusion of material no longer considered "mainstream", so as to keep the book at a reasonable size. Based on exciting discoveries made during the previous decade, the topics of insect evolutionary relationships, semiochemicals, gas exchange, immune responses (including those of parasites and parasitoids), flight, and the management of pests have received particular attention in the preparation of the third edition. Overall, more than 30 new or significantly revised figures have been incorporated.

Insects as a group occupy a middle ground in the biosphere between bac teria and viruses at one extreme, amphibians and mammals at the other. The size and general nature of insects present special problems to the student of entomology. For example, many commercially available in struments are geared to measure in grams, while the forces commonly en countered in studying insects are in the milligram range. Therefore, tech niques developed in the study of insects or in those fields concerned with the control of insect pests are often unique. Methods for measuring things are common to all sciences. Advances sometimes depend more on how something was done than on what was measured; indeed a given field often progresses from one technique to another as new methods are discovered, developed, and modified. Just as often, some of these techniques find their way into the classroom when the problems involved have been sufficiently ironed out to permit students to master the manipulations in a few laboratory periods. Many specialized techniques are confined to one specific research labo ratory. Although methods may be considered commonplace where they are used, in another context even the simplest procedures may save con siderable time. It is the purpose of this series (1) to report new develop ments in methodology, (2) to reveal sources of groups who have dealt with and solved particular entomological problems, and (3) to describe ex periments which might be applicable for use in biology laboratory courses.

years ago extensive advances have been made in all parts of the subject. Full-sized textbooks have been devoted to it; notably The Principles of Insect Physiology by the present author, the three volume Physiology of the Insecta edited by Morris Rockstein, and Insect Biochemistry by Darcy Gilmour; and articles describing the most recent advances in the physiology and biochemistry of insects appear in the Annual Review of Entomology, in Advances in Insect Physiology and elsewhere. References in this edition have therefore been confined to such textbooks and reviews, to a few recent papers which have not yet become incorporated in this way, and to a limited number of other papers which provide useful starting-points for further reading. I The Integument The key to much of the physiology of insects is to be found in the nature of their cuticle. As was first shown by Haecke1, the cuticle is the product of a single layer of epidermal cells. It is often described as being composed of non-living material; but in fact the epidermal cells give off fine filaments contained within the so-called 'pore canals', which run through the substance of the cuticle and often come within less than a micron of the surface. Cuticle Structure As described from stained sections the cuticle consists of two primary layers, the endocuticle which makes up the greater part, and a thin refractile epicuticle on the surface, usually not more than one micron in thickness.

Emphasis is placed on the elaborate cuticular matrices in insects and crustaceans, spider and insect silks, sialomes of phytophagous and blood-feeding arthropods as well as on secretions of male and female accessory glands. Focus is placed largely on insects, due to the extensive body of published research that in part is the result of available whole genome sequences of several model species (in particular Drosophila melanogaster) and accessible ESTs for other species. Such advances have facilitated fundamental insights into genomic, proteomic and molecular biology-based physiology. This new volume contains comprehensive contributions on extracellular composite matrices in arthropods. The building blocks of such matrices are formed in and secreted by single layered epithelial cells into exterior domains where their final assembly takes place.Additionally, the unique mechanical properties of natural biocomposites like chitin/chitosan, the crustacean mineralized exoskeleton, the pliant protein resilin or insect and spider silks, have inspired basic and applied research that yield sophistical biomimetics and structural biocomposite hybrids important for future industrial and biomedical use. In summary, this book provides an invaluable vast source of basic and applied information for a plethora of scientists as well as textbook for graduate and advanced undergraduate students.