The Physiology of Insecta V5

Book excerpt: The Physiology of Insecta, Second Edition, Volume V, is part of a multivolume treatise that brings together the known facts, the controversial material, and the many unresolved and unsettled problems of insect physiology. It features chapters written by the outstanding workers in each of a wide range of insect function areas. It is designed to meet a manifest need, which has arisen from the phenomenal increase in research activity on insects, for an authoritative, comprehensive reference work in insect physiology. The book begins with a discussion of insect nutrition. This is followed by separate chapters on the physiology of digestion and absorption; the factors affecting insect heart rates; the electrical properties of the insect heart; and the hemocytes of insects. Subsequent chapters cover the physiological role and the adaptive significance of the main biochemical constituents of insect hemolymph; salt and water balance in insects; defense reactions in insects; and microsomal mixed-function oxidases.