Abstract: Insulins are an evolutionary conserved group of peptide hormones in many organisms which regulate metabolism, growth, development, reproduction, and lifespan. In insulin superfamily, insulin-like peptides (ILPs) exit in insects encoded by multigene families and structurally homologous to vertebrate insulin. In recent years, there have been an increase in research on insect ILPs and insulin-like signaling pathways, especially the study of Drosophila homologs provides a good model for diagnosis and therapy of human insulin-related diseases. Recent research advances on insect ILPs and their receptors, expression and release of ILPs and downstream signaling pathways, and roles of ILPs in physiology are reviewed in this paper for providing a basis on the utilization of genes in insulin-like signaling pathways in control of insect pests or conservation of natural enemies.

Key words: insulin-like peptides, insulin-like receptors, insects, physiological functions