Peter W. Miles's scientific contributions

Publisher Summary Salivary function is especially interesting in Hemiptera because of the effects the saliva has on the living and surviving organisms, on which many of these insects feed. The saliva of Hemiptera is by no means a simple secretion—in addition to the usual salivary functions of moistening food and mixing it with hydrolytic enzymes before ingestion, the saliva of phytophagous species plays an important physiochemical role during the mechanical penetration of plant tissues by the piercing and sucking mouthparts; in accomplishing this task, the saliva may vary in its chemical composition and physical consistency from one moment to the next. Moreover, deposits of solidifying components of the saliva of many species persist in the food plants, modifying the long term effects of feeding by the insects. This chapter compiles the various types of investigation on salivary functions in the Homoptera and Heteroptera, and suggests profitable lines of future investigation based on analogous functions in different taxonomic groups.