Flights of fancy:: possible roles of allatostatin and allatotropin in migration and reproductive success of Pseudaletia unipuncta

Many invertebrate neuropeptides have recently been identified and there is evidence that the same compound may serve different roles in different species and/or multiple functions within a given species. However, until the relevant receptors or knock; out' animals, lacking the neuropeptide of interest, become available it will be difficult to clarify the precise inter- and intraspecific functions of these neuropeptides. In the present paper. we argue that until these tools are available a more meaningful understanding of the roles of neuropeptides could be obtained by carrying out experiments within an ecological context. Furthermore, this approach would allow us to generate hypotheses that could be rigorously tested when more sophisticated techniques are developed. We discuss these ideas using our interdisciplinary research on the reproductive biology of the true armyworm, Pseudaletia unipuncta, as a case study. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.