1. Introduction -- 2. Basic insect functional anatomy and physiological principles -- 3. Temperature -- 4. Water -- 5. Nutrition, growth, and size -- 6. Oxygen -- 7. Techniques and applications -- 8. Conclusions and future directions
Summary
Insects are the most ecologically important multicellular heterotrophs in terrestrial systems. They play critical roles in ecological food webs, remain devastating agricultural and medical pests, and represent the most diverse group of eukaryotes in terms of species numbers. This volume presents a current and comprehensive overview of how the key physiological traits of insects respond to environmental variations. It forges conceptual links from molecular biology through organismal function to population and community ecology
