Reproduction, Female: Hormonal Control of

This chapter focuses on the hormonal control in reproduction process of female insects. The central process in female reproduction in insects, the production of eggs, is hormonally regulated. To reproduce successfully, females must coordinate egg production with other aspects of reproduction such as dispersal, the availability of resources, and selection of mates and oviposition sites. Environmental signals are effectively translated into physiological processes by networks of hormonal signals. Egg development in insects has become a model experimental system studied to understand the general principles of stage-, sex-, and tissue-specific responses to hormones. In insects, juvenile hormone (JH) and ecdysone typically play important roles in orchestrating egg development. The development of improved analytical methods has led to the elucidation of the roles of other key hormones, particularly a variety of neurosecretory hormones. Common themes in the hormonal control of egg production are becoming clearer, as are important differences between insect groups. Hormonal control of egg production is relatively well understood in a few insects because of its use as a model system for studying hormone action. The integration of hormonal controls with other aspects of reproduction is more complex and is less well understood.