Our understanding of the physiological function of insect essential lipids has long been flawed by major uncertainties. It was discovered long ago that dietary sterol is a necessary nutrient for all insects, which radically sets them apart from the vertebrates in terms of qualitative nutrient requirements. Because of the physiological importance of sterol as a molting hormone precursor in insects and the implications of this for the development of new insecticides, a wealth of investigation into insect sterol metabolism followed, covering both the ways in which insects convert diverse food-plant sterols into the major tissue sterols and how these in turn are metabolized into the ecdysone molting hormones. However, for the classes or essential Lipid nutrients required by vertebrates, research dealing with insects has been scant and, more often than not, rather indeterminate. Many, but by no means all, insects studied appear to require essential fatty acids, though virtually nothing has been found out about the metabolism or essential physiological function of these acids. Excepting vitamin A, needed for insect vision, the various vertebrate fat-soluble vitamins appear to have no significance for insect physiology, and results of the occasional attempts to demonstrate functions for them in growth and development have in most cases been tantalizingly equivocal. In recent years some notable advances were made in tne study or essential fatty acids and fat-soluble vitamins in insects, and work on insect sterol nutrition and metabolism continues with ever-increasing sophistication. The contributors to this book summarize, discuss, and speculate on these issues. Their work is based on papers presented at the 1980 World Congress of Entomology at Kyoto, Japan.

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 has instituted a commitment to the publication of high quality reviews on molecular biology and molecular genetics in areas where they provide an increased understanding of physiological processes in insects. Volume 24 is the first to include such specifically sought articles.

Biochemistry of Insects reviews the state of knowledge in insect biochemistry. The book begins by examining the function of carbohydrates in regulating and maintaining the life processes of insects. This is followed by separate chapters on the functional roles of lipids and proteins in insects; and protein synthesis in insects. Subsequent chapters cover the chemistry of insect cuticle; the structure, distribution, and chemistry of insect biochromes; and chemical control of insect behavior. Also discussed are the biochemical aspects of the natural products used by insects in defensive contexts; the reaction of insecticides and related compounds with their targets; detoxification mechanisms in insects; and genetic variation in natural populations. Designed to serve as a basic textbook in field, this volume should be equally useful as an auxiliary text for most relevant courses in insect biology, particularly insect physiology, insect ecology, insect control, and economic entomology. The book should also serve as an important reference source for the advanced student, the research scientist, and the professional entomologist seeking authoritative details of relevant areas of subject matter.

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

This book discusses recent contributions focusing on insect physiology and ecology written by experts in their respective fields. Four chapters in this book are dedicated to evaluating the morphological and ecological importance and distribution of water beetles, dung beetles, weevils, and tabanids, while two others investigate the symbiotic relationships between various insects and their associations with bacteria, fungi, or mites. Two other chapters consider insecticide detoxification, as well as insect defense mechanisms against infections. The last two chapters concentrate on insects as sustainable food. This book targets a wide audience of general biologists, as well as entomologists, ecologists, zoologists, virologists, and epidemiologists, including both teachers and students in gaining a better appreciation of this rapidly growing field.