Insect Metamorphosis: From Natural History to Regulation of Development and Evolution

Description:

Features important updates on three key aspects of this historically enigmatic area of evolutionary biology: how did metamorphosis originate, how did it evolve, and how is it regulated. In providing an updated and modern vision of the process, the work discusses insect metamorphosis as a key innovation in insect evolution, with most of the present biodiversity on Earth composed of metamorphosing insects-approximately 1 million species having been described, and another 10-30 million still to be discovered. It also addresses misconceptions and past treatment in secondary source literature that may have been outdated or simply incorrect. This exciting work addresses the difficulty of integrating insect metamorphosis into the theory of species evolution by natural selection (due to the striking difference between the morphologies and life styles of larvae and adults of the same species) noted by Darwin in his On the Origin of Species. It offers a comprehensive and updated review on insect metamorphosis, covering biological, physiological, and molecular facets and with emphasis on evolutionary aspects.