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Hormonal Control of Insect Migratory Behavior

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Evolution of Insect Migration and Diapause

Part of the book series: Proceedings in Life Sciences ((LIFE SCIENCES))

Abstract

Most insect migrants seem to share in common certain behavioral, physiological, and ecological characteristics (Dingle, 1972). Behaviorally, migrants are generally extremely responsive to stimuli which induce flight and less responsive or unresponsive to stimuli associated with reproduction and feeding (Kennedy, 1961). In many species migration occurs in response to short photoperiods and is an alternative to immediate reproduction. Often associated with and induced by conditions which produce diapause, it offers an escape from unfavorable conditions in space as diapause provides an escape in time. Migrants, like diapausing insects, are often found to have hypertrophied fat bodies and immature ovaries (Johnson, 1969). Since migration is associated with a distinct set of physiological characteristics similar to those which accompany adult diapause, the possibility of an hormonal component to its control was often suggested by earlier workers. In his work on insect migration, Johnson (1969) put forth a model in which adult migration was triggered when ecdysone was absent and the juvenile hormone (JH) titer was low. The rise in JH titer then caused both the cessation of migratory behavior and the onset of oogenesis.

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  1. M. A. Rankin
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  1. Department of Zoology, University of Iowa, 52242, Iowa City, Iowa, USA

    Hugh Dingle

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Rankin, M.A. (1978). Hormonal Control of Insect Migratory Behavior. In: Dingle, H. (eds) Evolution of Insect Migration and Diapause. Proceedings in Life Sciences. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-6941-1_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-6941-1_1

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