An Introduction to Insect Physiology

Abstract

This textbook has been written largely for undergraduates who are not specialising in insect physiology and for whom the classic works are too detailed, though some background knowledge is assumed. The author treats insects as self-replicating metabolic systems possessing catalysts and cofactors sustaining a particular pattern of metabolism, and the implications of this are pursued in successive sections on somatic physiology (a term covering processes whereby the requirements of the metabolic system are met), neuromuscular physiology, the physiology of reproduction and development, and finally aspects of physiological ecology.