Volume 2 on Postembryonic Development deals with such topics as life cycles, structural analysis, imaginal discs, cuticular proteins, intercellular communication, polytene chromosomes, muscle structure and maturation, and regeneration. The chapters show that generality of cell development is to be found in insects, in contrast to the more specialized cells of vertebrates. The way that insect cells preserve their relationships to one another in simple geometries within tubes and sheets has allowed experiments that have given the first records of segmentally repeating gradients and compartments, the first quantitative accounts of the way that cells are coupled, the first descriptions of the remodelling of gap junctions and the modulation of junctional conductivity by hormones. This volume provides up-to-date accounts that will be of value not only to entomologists but also to all researchers in cell and developmental biology.

Endocrinology II concerns the actions of hormones in insects, complementing Volume 7 which is concerned with the production and chemistry of insect hormones. While the preceding volume is directed mainly towards the insect endocrinologist, this volume has much of intrinsic interest to the general physiologist. It deals with the regulation of metabolism, reproduction, cuticle properties, and certain aspects of behaviour from a systems point of view and amply documents how hormones have provided basic insights into the functioning of such systems. Interference in endocrine regulation could provide future systems for insect control and this volume will provide the foundation on which the future formulation of these strategies is based. More information on diverse aspects of insect hormone action is brought together here than in any previous single work and this volume will therefore be a valuable reference source for many years to come.

Expanded and updated, this second edition of a bestselling book challenges conventional entomological wisdom with the latest research and analytical interpretations. Encouraging independent evaluation of the data and allowing for the extrapolation of major concepts across species, this indispensable text establishes a thorough understanding of the

Employing the clear, student-friendly style that made previous editions so popular, Insect Physiology and Biochemistry, Fourth Edition presents an engaging and authoritative guide to the latest findings in the dynamic field of insect physiology. The book supplies a comprehensive picture of the current state of the function, development, and reproduction of insects. Expanded and updated, now in full colour, this fourth edition adds three new chapters on the role of the nervous system in behavior; the ‘Genomics Revolution’ in entomology; and global climate changes which have a major effect on insects, including warming and weather. It continues to challenge conventional entomological wisdom with the latest research and analytical interpretations. The text will appeal to upper undergraduate and graduate students and to practicing biologists who need to possess a firm knowledge of the broad principles of insect physiology. With detailed full colour illustrations to help explain physiological concepts and important anatomical details, it remains the most easily accessible guide to key concepts in the field.

Only one generation ago, entomology was a proudly isolated discipline. In Comstock Hall, the building of the Department of Entomology at Cornell University where I was first introduced to experimental science in the laboratory of Tom Eisner, those of us interested in the chemistry of life felt like interlopers. In the 35 years that have elapsed since then, all of biology has changed, and entomology with it. Arrogant molecular biologists and resentful classical biologists might think that what has happened is a hostile take-over of biology by molecular biology. But they are wrong. More and more we now understand that the events were happier and much more exciting, amounting to a new synthesis. Molecular Biology, which was initially focused on the simplest of organisms, bacteria and viruses, broke out of its confines after the initial fundamental questions were answered - the structure of DNA, the genetic code, the nature of regulatory genes - and, importantly, as its methods became more and more generally applicable. The recombinant DNA revo lution of the 1970s, the development of techniques for sequencing macromolecules, the polymerase chain reaction, new molecular methods of genetic analysis, all brought molecular biology face to face with the infinite complexity and the exuber ant diversity of life. Molecular biology itself stopped being an isolated diScipline, pre occupied with the universal laws of life, and became an approach to addressing fas cinating specific problems from every field of biology.

Insect physiology is currently undergoing a revolution with the increased application of molecular biological techniques to investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying the physiological responses to insect cells.Advances in Insect Physiology is commited to publishing high quality reviews on molecular biology and molecular genetics in areas where they provide an increased understanding of physiological processes in insects. Volume 26 of this classic seriescontinues to provide up-to-date reviews on topical subjects of importance to all invertebrate physiologists and neurobiologists and contains increased coverage on the molecular biology of insect physiology.