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Chemical Composition of Insect Surface Waxes: Biological Functions and Analytics

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Handbook of Bioanalytics

Abstract

The cuticle, which covers the body of an insect, serves many different functions, e.g., reception of signals from the environment, protection against desiccation and reduction of the penetration of chemicals, and protection from attack by microorganisms. The cuticle also provides motor functions analogous to the role of the bone in mammals. Waxes are present on the surface of the cuticle. These compounds are called “cuticular lipids,” though apart from just lipids, there are many other groups of chemical compounds. Surface waxes protect insects against water loss and play an important role in chemical communication with other insects. Some of them also exhibit antifungal and antibacterial properties. Moreover, the quantitative and qualitative profile of surface waxes can be used in chemotaxonomy. The analysis of insect surface waxes consists of the identification of individual chemical compounds and their quantitative determination. The surface waxes of insects consist of nonpolar compounds; hence the methodology of chemical analysis is typical for hydrophobic analytes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Analysis, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Poland

    Marek Gołębiowski & Piotr Stepnowski

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  1. Marek Gołębiowski
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  2. Piotr Stepnowski
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Correspondence to Piotr Stepnowski .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Chemistry and Bioanalytics, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Torun, Poland

    Bogusław Buszewski

  2. Faculty of Chemistry, Silesian University of Technology, Gliwice, Poland

    Irena Baranowska

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  1. Independent Laboratory of Chemistry of Natural Products, Medical University of Lublin, Lublin, Poland

    Krystyna Katarzyna Skalicka-Woźniak

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Gołębiowski, M., Stepnowski, P. (2022). Chemical Composition of Insect Surface Waxes: Biological Functions and Analytics. In: Buszewski, B., Baranowska, I. (eds) Handbook of Bioanalytics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63957-0_29-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63957-0_29-1

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-63957-0

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