Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction : history and overview of insect hydrocarbons / Gary J. Blomquist and Anne-Genevieve Bagneres -- Structure and analysis of insect hydrocarbons / Gary J. Blomquist -- Biosynthesis of cuticular hydrocarbons / Gary J. Blomquist -- Molecular biology and genetics of hydrocarbon production / Claude Wicker-Thomas and Thomas Chertemps -- Site of synthesis, mechanism of transport and selective deposition of hydrocarbons / Anne-Genevieve Bagneres and Gary J. Blomquist -- Cuticular lipids and water balance / Allen G. Gibbs and Subhash Rajpurohit -- Chemical taxonomy with hydrocarbons / Anne-Genevieve Bagneres and Claude Wicker-Thomas -- Chemical synthesis of insect cuticular hydrocarbons / Jocelyn G. Millar -- Oxygenated derivatives of hydrocarbons / James S. Buckner -- Perception and olfaction of cuticular compounds / Mamiko Ozaki and Ayako Wada-Katsumata -- Nestmate recognition in social insects and the role of hydrocarbons / Jelle S. van Zweden and Patrizia d'Ettorre -- Cuticular hydrocarbon cues in the formation and maintenance of insect social groups / Michael Greene -- Hydrocarbon profiles indicate fertility and dominance status in ant, bee, and wasp colonies / Jurgen Liebig -- Chemical deception/mimicry using cuticular hydrocarbons / Anne-Genevieve Bagneres and M. Cristina Lorenzi -- Behavioral and evolutionary roles of cuticular hydrocarbons in Diptera / Jean-Francois Ferveur and Matthew Cobb -- Contact recognition pheromones in spiders and scorpions / Marie Trabalon and Anne-Genevieve Bagneres -- Hydrocarbons as contact pheromones of longhorned beetles (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) / Matthew D. Ginzel -- Polyene hydrocarbons, epoxides, and related compounds as components of lepidopteran pheromone blends / Jocelyn Millar -- Volatile hydrocarbon pheromones from beetles / Robert J. Bartelt -- Future directions in hydrocarbon research / Abraham Hefetz, Claude Wicker-Thomas and Anne-Genevieve Bagneres.