Insect Metamorphosis: From Natural History to Regulation of Development and Evolution explores the origin of metamorphosis, how it evolved, and how it is it regulated. The book discusses insect metamorphosis as a key innovation in insect evolution. With most of the present biodiversity on Earth composed of metamorphosing insects—approximately 1 million species currently described, with another 10-30 million still waiting to be discovered, the book delves into misconceptions and past treatments. In addition, the topic of integrating insect metamorphosis into the theory of evolution by natural selection as noted by Darwin in his On the Origin of Species is also discussed. Users will find this to be a comprehensive and updated review on insect metamorphosis, covering biological, physiological and molecular facets, with an emphasis on evolutionary aspects. - Features updated knowledge from the past decade on the mechanisms of action of juvenile hormone, the main doorkeeper of insect metamorphosis - Aids researchers in entomology or developmental biology dealing with specialized aspects of metamorphosis - Provides applied entomologists with recently updated data, especially on regulation, to better face the problems of pest control and management - Gives general evolutionary biologists context on the process of metamorphosis in its larger scope

The publication of the extensive 7-volume work Comprehensive Molecular Insect Science has provided library customers and their end-users with a complete reference encompassing important developments and achievements in modern insect science including reviews on the ecdysone receptor, lipocalins, and bacterial toxins. This derivative from the major reference work, Insect Development: Metamorphosis, Molting and Morphogenesis, presents a new opportunity for the end user who desires to purchase a comprehensive yet affordable work on these important aspects of insect development. Timeless articles by a host of respected contributors in the field cover such topics as embryonic development, hormonal control of form and function of the nervous system, programmed cell death, organization of the endocrine system, and much more. Articles specially selected by the known and respected editor-in-chief of the original major reference work Classic reviews offer essential coverage of development as it relates to metamorphosis, molting and morphogenesis Introduction by the editor puts the selected body of work in context, highlighting the need for entomologists, developmental biologists and related researchers to have these valuable reviews in their personal collection

The male reproductive system and spermatogenesis -- The female reproductive system and oogenesis -- Sperm transfer, allocation, and use -- Sex determination -- Parthenogenesis -- Early embryogenesis -- Specification of the body plan in insect embryos -- Organogenesis -- Postembryonic development and life history -- Molting and metamorphosis -- Specification of the adult body pattern -- Hormones, molting, and metamorphosis -- Ontogeny and hexapod evolution.

Of all the zoological classes the insects are the most numerous in species and the most varied in structure. Estimates of the number 18 of species vary from 1 to 10 million, and 10 individuals are es timated to be alive at any given moment. In their evolution, in sects are relatively ancient and, therefore, they have proved to be a phenomenally successful biological design which has survived unchanged in its basic winged form during the last 300 m. y. In sects were the first small animals to colonize the land with full suc cess. Their small size opened many more ecological niches to them and permitted a greater diversification than the vertebrates. What is it about this design that has made insects so successful in habitats stretching from arid deserts to the Arctic and Antarctic and from freshwater brooks to hot springs and salines? Is it due to the adapta bility of their behavior, physiology, and biochemistry to changing environmental conditions? Three features of insects are of particular importance in determin ing their physiological relationship with the environment: their small size, as mentioned above, the impermeability and rigidity of their exoskeleton, and their poikilothermy. Of course, as with any other animals, the insects' success in its environment depends on its ability to maintain its internal state within certain tolerable limits of temperature, osmotic pressure, pH or oxygen concentra tion (homoeostasis).

The publication of the extensive 7-volume work Comprehensive Molecular Insect Science has provided library customers and their end-users with a complete reference encompassing important developments and achievements in modern insect science including reviews on the ecdysone receptor, lipocalins, and bacterial toxins. This derivative from the major reference work, Insect Development: Metamorphosis, Molting and Morphogenesis, presents a new opportunity for the end user who desires to purchase a comprehensive yet affordable work on these important aspects of insect development. Timeless articles by a host of respected contributors in the field cover such topics as embryonic development, hormonal control of form and function of the nervous system, programmed cell death, organization of the endocrine system, and much more. - Articles specially selected by the known and respected editor-in-chief of the original major reference work - Classic reviews offer essential coverage of development as it relates to metamorphosis, molting and morphogenesis - Introduction by the editor puts the selected body of work in context, highlighting the need for entomologists, developmental biologists and related researchers to have these valuable reviews in their personal collection

This is the first comprehensive book focusing on the form and function of insect mouthparts. Written by leading experts, it reviews the current knowledge on feeding types and the evolution of mouthparts and presents new research approaches. The richly illustrated articles cover topics ranging from functional morphology, biomechanics of biting and chewing, and the biophysics of fluid-feeding to the morphogenesis and genetics of mouthpart development, ecomorphology in flower-visiting insects as well as the evolution of mouthparts, including fossil records. Intended for entomologists and scientists interested in interdisciplinary approaches, the book provides a solid basis for future scientific work. Chapter 6 of this book is available open access under a CC BY 4.0 license at link.springer.com.

The development of insects strongly depends on the photoperiodicity and temperature cycles of the surrounding environment. The double photoperiodic control in connection with the daylength and the interrelation between inductive and spontaneous processes are discussed as fundamental features for the physiology of photoperiodism. With his book the author proposes a new concept for a physiological basis of insect development. "The overall contribution of the book resides in its offering a series of concepts that can be discussed and tested. The ideas originating from Zaslavski's unique viewpoint should be of interest to those concerned with the evolution of life histories." (The Quarterly Review of Biology)

This book will give an overview of insect ovaries, showing the diversities and the common traits in egg growth processes. The idea to write this book developed while looking at the flood of information which appeared in the early 1980s on early pattern formation in Drosophila embryos. At this time a significant breakthrough was made in studies of this little fly, combining molecular biological methods with classical and molecular genetics. The answers to questions about early pattern formation raised new questions about the architecture of ovaries and the growth of eggs within these ovaries. However, by concentrating only on Drosophila it is not possible to form an adequate picture of what is going on in insect ovaries, since the enormous diversity found among insects is not considered sufficiently. Almost forgotten, but the first to study the architecture of ovaries, was Alexander Brandt writing in 1878 in aber das Ei und seine Bildungsstaette (On the egg and its organ of development). More than 100 years later, a series of ten books or more would be required to survey all the serious informa tion we have today on insect oogenesis. Thus, this book is a personal selection and personal view on the theme, and the authors must be excused by all those scientists whose papers could not be included. The book briefly describes the ectodemes, i. e.

Our highly seasonal world restricts insect activity to brief portions of the year. This feature necessitates a sophisticated interpretation of seasonal changes and enactment of mechanisms for bringing development to a halt and then reinitiating it when the inimical season is past. The dormant state of diapause serves to bridge the unfavourable seasons, and its timing provides a powerful mechanism for synchronizing insect development. This book explores how seasonal signals are monitored and used by insects to enact specific molecular pathways that generate the diapause phenotype. The broad perspective offered here scales from the ecological to the molecular and thus provides a comprehensive view of this exciting and vibrant research field, offering insights on topics ranging from pest management, evolution, speciation, climate change and disease transmission, to human health, as well as analogies with other forms of invertebrate dormancy and mammalian hibernation.