Insect Hormones

(Paperback)

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Description

The goal of this textbook is to provide students and non-specialists with an overview of the dynamic and wide-ranging science that insect endocrinology has become since its beginnings nearly 80 years ago in the study of insect metamorphosis. The author offers a comprehensive survey of the many roles that hormones play in the biology of insects. Among the topics discussed are the control of moulting, metamorphosis, reproduction, caste determination in social insects, diapause, migration, carbohydrate and lipid metabolism, diuresis and behaviour. The account features a summary of the most current and accurate thinking on the complex roles of ecdysone and juvenile hormone in the control of metamorphosis, a process still misunderstood and misrepresented in biological textbooks and many professional reviews. Throughout, the book's emphasis is on the biology of the organism and the ways in which physiological and developmental regulatory mechanisms are integrated into the insect's life cycle.

Reviews

"Frederik Nijhout's book is the first comprehensive and concise review of insect endocrinology for more than twenty years. Much has changed and much has been added in those years, and Insect Hormones therefore fills more a yawning void than a gap. It is an incisive and well-written overview."--Gaden S. Robinson, The Times Literary Supplement "This is an excellent and timely book which makes a major contribution to this branch of science. It brings together information about the workings of hormones that control almost every aspect of insect physiology. It is well written, and it will be essential reading for all with more than a passing interest in insect endocrinology, and is thoroughly recommended to students and researchers alike."--John Edwards, New Scientist

Author Bio

H. Frederik Nijhout is Professor of Zoology at Duke University. He is the author of The Development and Evolution of Butterfly Wing Patterns.