Regulatory Mechanisms in Insect Feeding, Softcover reprint of the original 1st ed. 1995

The only book to deal comprehensively with insect feeding was published by C. T. Brues in 1946. His Insect Dietary was an account of insect feeding habits. Since that time there has been a revolution in biology, and almost all aspects of our understanding of insect feeding have expanded to an extent and into areas that would have been unthinkable in Brues' day. Yet, our book does not replace Insect Dietary but, instead, complements it, because our aim is to bring together information on the mechanisms by which food quality and quantity are regulated. We deliberately focus attention on the feeding process; to include food-finding would have required a much larger book and would have moved the focus away from more proximate mechanisms. This book is dedicated to the late Vincent G. Dethier. As a pioneer in studying the physiological basis of animal behavior, he focused on regulation of feeding in flies and caterpillars. His work on the blowfly, together with that by his many students andco-workers, still provides the most completely described mechanism of insect feeding. The citation of his work in almost every chapter in this book illustrates the importance of his findings and ideas to our current understanding of regulation of insect feeding. The authors in this book provide many innovative and stimulating ideas typifying Dethier's approach to the study of feeding be­ havior.

Mechanics of Feeding.- 1. Mechanics of Food Handling by Chewing Insects.- 2. Mechanics of Food Handling by Fluid-Feeding Insects.- 3. Insect Saliva: Function, Biochemistry, and Physiology.- Regulation of a Meal.- 4. Chemosensory Regulation of Feeding.- 5. Regulation of a Meal: Chewing Insects.- 6. Regulation of a Meal: Blood Feeders.- 7. Regulation of Phloem Sap Feeding by Aphids.- 8. Regulation of a Carbohydrate Meal in Adult Diptera, Lepidoptera, and Hymenoptera.- Long-term Regulation of Feeding.- 9. The Mechanisms of Nutritional Homeostasis.- 10. Effects of Experience on Feeding.- 11. Ontogenetic Changes in Feeding Behavior.- Methods of Controlling Insect Feeding.- 12. Stimulation of Feeding: Insect Control Agents.- 13. Use of Feeding Inhibitors in Insect Control.- Taxonomic Index.

' ...a very readable reference book that I will be recommending to students.'Bulletin of Entomological Research'This volume is a critical review of recent trends in food sciences and is a useful complement to the 1994 book ...'European Journal of Entomology