ABSTRACT
Insects, because of their great diversity of form and habit, offer a very wide field for physiological research. Apart from the purely academic aspect it is obvious that there is much more hope of controlling harmful insects or encouraging beneficial ones if their life processes are more thoroughly understood. There is also the possibility that some of these life processes are similar or related to those of the vertebrates including man himself, in which case insects may yield interesting and valuable information of more direct importance. In fact, when more is known about them there appears to be no reason why some should not come into use as laboratory animals. A start in this direction has already been made since the larva of the wax moth Galleria mellonella has been used for the estimation of nicotinic acid (Rubinstein & Shekun, 1939).
