The neuroendocrine control of reproduction and development of inver- tebrates has a long tradition as an important area of research in France. The reader of this volume is certainly familiar with the significant con- tributions to this field made by such outstanding scientific personalities as J ean-J acques Bounhiol, Jean Panouse, Bernard Possompes, Pierre and Line Joly, Helene Charniaux-Cotton,Maurice Durchon, Manfred Gabe, Guy Echalier, Marie Raabe, and others. It is therefore not surprising that the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) sponsored, in 1975 and 1983, two major inter- national meetings devoted to this subject. The organizers of the 1975 meeting, which was held in Lille, decided to concentrate on the bio- synthesis, metabolism, and mode of action of the invertebrate hor- mones. To some extent, Professors Durchon and J oly wanted to convey the message that they felt that the period of classical invertebrate endo- crinology had come to an end and that traditional approaches were be- ing replaced by biochemical analyses. How right they were is illustrated by the present volume. Today biochemistry, molecular biology, and analytical chemistry are tools of the invertebrate endocrinologist, who now starts his morning work by homogenizing his worm, mollusc, insect ...and by extracting DNA, steroids, or peptides.

Table of Contents:
I Peptide Hormones.- I.1 Hormonal Control of Regeneration in Hydra.- I.2 Peptidic Hormones in Annelids.- I.3 Recent Progress in Endocrinology of Molluscs.- I.4 The Structure of the Commands for a Neuropeptide-Mediated Behavior, Egg-Laying, in an Opisthobranch Mollusc.- I.5 Studies on Release Activities of the Neurosecretory Caudo-Dorsal Cells of Lymnaea stagnalis.- I.6 Roles of Calcium and cAMP in Biosynthesis and Release of the Ovulation Hormone of the Freshwater Snail Lymnaea stagnalis.- I.7 The Egg-Laying Behavior of the Pond Snail: Electrophysiological Aspects.- I.8 Prothoracicotropic Hormone of Bombyx mori.- I.9 Neurohormonal Regulation of Molting and Metamorphosis in the Tobacco Hornworm, Manduca sexta.- I.10 Isolation of an Allatotropic Factor in Locusta migratoria and Its Effect on Corpus Allatum Activity in Vitro.- I.11 Neurosecretion in Insects: Multisynthesis, Mode of Action, and Multiregulation.- I.12 Neuropeptides of Vertebrate Type in the Blowfly, Calliphora.- I.13 Peptides from the Corpora cardiaca and CNS of Locusts.- I.14 Adipokinetic Hormones in Locusts.- I.15 Ecdysteroids Regulate the Release and Action of Eclosion Hormone in the Moth Manduca sexta.- I.16 Studies on Crustacean Eyestalk Neuropeptides by Use of High Performance Liquid Chromatography.- I.17 Present State of Knowledge on the Chemical Nature of the Androgenic Hormone in Higher Crustaceans.- II Ecdysteroids.- II.1 Ecdysteroids in Ovaries and Embryos of Locusta migratoria.- II.2 Biosynthesis of Ovarian Ecdysteroid Phosphates and Their Metabolic Fate During Embryogenesis in Schistocerca gregaria.- II.3 Ecdysone Metabolism.- II.4 Ecdysone 20-Monooxygenases.- II.5 Ecdysteroids and Integuments in Locusts.- II.6 Relationships Between Hormones and Epidermal Cell Cycles During the Metamorphosis of Tenebrio molitor.- II.7 On the Mode of Action of Ecdysteroids in Crustaceans.- II.8 Hormonal Control of Sequential Gene Expression in Insect Epidermis.- II.9 Ecdysteroid Regulation of the Major Transcripts of Drosophila melanogaster Larval Salivary Glands and Fat Bodies.- II.10 Ecdysteroid-Regulated Puffs and Genes in Drosophila.- II.11 Pleiotropic Specific Responses Induced by Ecdysterone in the Cultured Kc Cells of Drosophila melanogaster.- II.12 The Action of Ecdysone in Imaginal Discs and Kc Cells of Drosophila melanogaster.- II.13 Ecdysteroids in Helminths.- II.14 Ecdysteroids in Schistosomes and Host-Parasite Relationship.- II.15 The Occurrence and Possible Physiological Significance of Ecdysteroids During Nematode and Cestode Development.- II.16 Ecdysteroids in Annelids.- III Juvenile Hormones.- III.1 Radioimmunoassays of Juvenile Hormones. State of the Methods and Recent Data on Validation.- III.2 The Qualitative and Quantitative Determination of Juvenile Hormones by Mass Spectrometry.- III.3 Juvenile Hormones O, I, and II Exist Only in Lepidoptera.- III.4 Biochemical Aspects of Juvenile Hormone Biosynthesis in Hemimetabola.- III.5 Regulation of Juvenile Hormone Titer in the Adult Female Cockroach Diploptera punctata.- III.6 Environmentally Controlled Changes in Juvenile Hormone Titers: The Colorado Potato Beetle as a Model System.- III.7 The Role of Juvenile Hormone Metabolism in the Metamorphosis of Selected Lepidoptera.- III.8 Hemolymph Transport of the Juvenile Hormones.- III.9 Photoaffinity Labelling of Juvenile Hormone-Binding Proteins in Leucophaea maderae.- III.10 Regulation of Vitellogenesis in Insects: The Pleiotropic Role of Juvenile Hormones.- III.11 On Titers, Origin, and Functions of Juvenile Hormone III, Methylfarnesoate, and Ecdysteroids in Embryonic Development of the Ovoviviparous Cockroach Nauphoeta cinerea.- III.12 Defining the Anti-Metamorphic Action of Juvenile Hormone.- III.13 Vitellogenin Synthesis in Locust Fat Body: Juvenile Hormone-Stimulated Gene Expression.- IV Hormonal Mechanisms in Echinoderms.- IV.1 Early Steps in Transduction of the Hormonal Signal Controlling Starfish Oocyte Maturation.- IV.2 Production of the Maturation-Promoting Factor (MPF) Following Hormonal Stimulation of Starfish Oocytes.- IV.3 Hormonal Mechanism of Starfish Spawning.- Genera Index.