Insect Physiological Ecology
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Insect Physiological Ecology
Author: Steven Chown
language: en
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Release Date: 2004-07-15
Insects exhibit incredible physiological diversity, making them ideal model organisms for the purpose of this book. The authors draw together the central issues in physiology (nutrition, water balance, temperature, etc.), treating each in sufficient detail to give researchers a broad update in summary form, as well as senior students a feel for current work in the field. In addition, they examine patterns in physiological variation, and go on to explore the mechanisms underlying this variation as well as the ecological and evolutionary consequences.
The Principles of Insect Physiology
Author: Vincent B. Wigglesworth
language: en
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Release Date: 2012-12-06
INSECTS PROVIDE an ideal medium in which to study all the problems of physiology. But if this medium is to be used to the best advantage, the principles and peculiarities of the insect's organization must be first appreciated. It is the purpose of this book to set forth these principles so far as they are understood at the present day. There exist already many excellent text-books of general ento mology; notably those of Imms, Weber, and Snodgrass, to mention only the more recent. But these authors have necessarily been preoccupied chiefly with describing the diversity of form among insects; discussions on function being correspondingly condensed. In the present work the emphasis is reversed. Struc ture is described only to an extent sufficient to make the physiological argument intelligible. Every anatomical peculiarity, every ecological specialization, has indeed its physiological counterpart. In that sense, anatomy, physiology and ecology are not separable. But regarded from the standpoint from which the present work is written, the endless modifications that are met with among insects are but illustrations of the general principles of their physiology, which it is the aim of this book to set forth. Completeness in such a work is not possible, or desirable; but an endeavour has been made to illustrate each physiological characteristic by a few concrete examples, and to include sufficient references to guide the student to the more important sources. The physiology of insects is to some the handmaid of Economic Entomology.
Environmental Physiology and Biochemistry of Insects
Author: K. H. Hoffmann
language: en
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Release Date: 2012-12-06
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).