HORMONAL INTEGRATION OF EGG-PRODUCTION IN RHODNIUS-PROLIXUS

This paper reviews the evidence dealing with hormonal controls on egg production in Rhodnius prolixus by which the inputs of feeding and mat ing are integrated. Juvenile hormone, secreted by the corpus allatum, plays a central role in egg production, intervening at several sites t o control the duration of egg production. The controls on the corpus a llatum are complex and apparently highly redundant, and the necessity for this redundancy is analysed in terms of the strategic advantage co nferred on the insect by this network of controls.