Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 10, 2025

Quantification of Macronutrients Intake in a Thermogenetic Neuronal Screen using Drosophila Larvae
Published on: June 11, 2020
Connecting nutrient sensing and the endocrine control of metabolic allocation in insects
Erik C Johnson1, Jason T Braco1, Matthew A Whitmill1
1Department of Biology, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC 27109, USA.
Abstract:
It is clear that specific hormones control an organism's energy use and regulate the differential allocations of energy to activity, growth and maintenance of specific tissues, and reproduction. Appropriate metabolic allocations require an assessment of the nutrient state of the animal, and nutrient sensing must be tied to appropriate signals in order to coordinate the repertoire of behaviors and physiologies accompanying a particular metabolic investment. Here, we review the known and speculated connections between nutrient sensing and the endocrine control of energy allocation in insects. Insects, being speciose and diverse in life history strategies, offer a unique perspective into the general architecture of the signaling mechanisms of energetic allocation and also into unique elements that correlate with specific life histories.
Related Concept Videos
Regulation of Food Intake
Key Elements for Plant Nutrition
Osmoregulation in Insects
An Overview of the Endocrine System
The endocrine system collaborates...
Endocrine Signaling
Regulation of Metabolism

