Insect hormones and their derivatives as insecticides.

The hormonal control of moulting, reproduction, and diapause in insects has little or no relationship to any similar phenomena in other animals, and the hormones involved in these processes are unlike any known hormones of vertebrates.The availability of pure chemicals with high biological activity has permitted an astonishing increase in research on insect hormones. At present, understanding of insect endocrinology is far too incomplete to justify much speculation about the possibility of using insect hormones as insecticides. However, the preliminary studies discussed in this paper give reason for hope, and the results justify further effort.