ABSTRACT
Rearing systems have provided research and development laboratories with the bases for numerous bioassays, usually in the form of raw materials to be used in vivo or in vitro. Biotechnology is offering new tools for the discovery and implementation of insect control methods. Understanding the interactions between nutrients and allelochemicals or engineered agents in the context of digestion, assimilation, translocation, and mode of action can save effort and increase rates of product discovery and development. The complications of dietary interactions among allelochemicals and nutrients in artificial and natural diets sometimes dramatically affect nutrient utilization. Many studies on effects of natural products are conducted with artificial rearing systems. General principles are given for absorption of specific biochemical classes, but the range of compounds to be studied is much too diverse and methods too painstaking for thorough study in any one insect.
