Newly discovered functions for some myotropic neuropeptides in locusts.

The field of neuropeptide research in insects during the past twenty years can be characterized by the enormous number of peptides that have been identified. In the locusts, Locusta migratoria and Schistocerca gregaria only, structural information is now available for more than 60 peptides. Quite a number of these peptides were isolated on the basis of their effect on visceral muscle contraction in vitro. A very limited number of reports describe the 'in vivo' function of a myotropic neuropeptide. Moreover, for most of the brain neuropeptides, we ignore whether they have a hormonal function. In this paper, we describe the recently discovered in vivo effects of some of the myotropic peptides, identified in locusts in the past decade. Schistocerca-neuropeptide F accelerates egg development; locustasulfakinin inhibits food intake and [His(7)]-corazonin induces body color pigmentation.