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Encyclopedia of Social Insects pp 1–3Cite as

Juvenile Hormone

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Juvenile hormones (JH) are a class of hormones in insects that regulate various aspects of development. In most social insects, JH III is the only isoform present, while in other insects (e.g., lepidopterans), JH I and II are the main forms.

JH is produced by paired glands near the brain, called corpora allata (Fig. 1). The production of JH is regulated by neuropeptides produced by the brain, with allatastatin suppressing and allatatropin promoting JH production. Theoretically, the JH titer in the hemolymph is determined by the rates of JH biosynthesis, JH degradation, and possibly also compartmentalization of JH by different organs/tissues. However, in honey bees, JH titers are highly correlated with, and thus mainly determined by, the rate of its production [3]. In fire ants, JH biosynthesis and JH whole-body content are also highly correlated.

Fig. 1
figure 1

Left: Brain of a honey bee worker viewed from the back of the head. Right: Enlarged view of the corpora allata(source of JH...

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References

  1. Brent C, & Dolezal A. (2009). Juvenile hormone extraction, purification, and quantification in ants. Cold Spring Harbor Protocols 4(7). https://doi.org/10.1101/pdb.prot5246.

  2. Elekonich, M. M., Schulz, D. J., Bloch, G., & Robinson, G. E. (2001). Juvenile hormone levels in honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) foragers: Foraging experience and diurnal variation. Journal of Insect Physiology, 47, 1119–1125.

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  4. Huang, Z.-Y., & Robinson, G. E. (1996). Regulation of honey bee division of labor by colony age demography. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 39, 147–158.

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  5. Robinson, G. E., & Vargo, E. L. (1997). Juvenile hormone in adult eusocial Hymenoptera: Gonadotropin and behavioral pacemaker. Archives of Insect Biochemistry and Physiology, 35, 559–583.

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  6. Tibbetts, E., Crocker, K. C., & Huang, Z. Y. (2016). Socially selected ornaments influence hormone titers of signalers and receivers. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, 113, 8478–8483.

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  1. Department of Entomology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA

    Zachary Y. Huang

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  1. Zachary Y. Huang
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Correspondence to Zachary Y. Huang .

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  1. Caura Village, Trinidad and Tobago

    Christopher K. Starr

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Huang, Z.Y. (2020). Juvenile Hormone. In: Starr, C. (eds) Encyclopedia of Social Insects. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90306-4_68-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90306-4_68-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-90306-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-90306-4

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