This textbook is the first to teach insect physiology and biology specifically to students who lack a strong background in biochemistry and molecular biology. Avoiding taxonomic language and supported with high‑quality figures, chapter summaries, end‑of‑chapter review questions, and a suite of PowerPoint slides for use in teaching, it describes the fundamental processes. These include molting and metamorphosis, digestion of food, nerve and muscle function, flight, biological rhythms, circulation and breathing, immunity, how climate and climate change have, and are, affecting insects, and the use of new manipulation of the genome in insect biology and control.

Introducing the topic with the story of insect development in Chapter 1, this text makes insect physiology and biology genuinely interesting to students, right through to the final chapter, which discusses studies in editing the insect genome.

James L. Nation, Sr. is currently Professor Emeritus in the Entomology & Nematology Department, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL. He taught graduate courses in the Department of Entomology & Nematology, conducted research, and taught in the undergraduate Honors Program before retiring in June 2003 after 43 years of teaching and research at the University of Florida. He continued to teach, on a contract basis, in the undergraduate Honor Program at the University of Florida (Global Environmental Issues, three credit course, and Origin of Humans, one credit course) until 2020, when he retired from teaching. He holds a BS degree (1957) from Mississippi State University (Entomology with Chemistry minor) and a PhD (1960) from Cornell University (Entomology with specialization in insect physiology and insect biochemistry). He was voted Teacher of the Year by the graduate students in the Entomology & Nematology Department at the University of Florida in 1989・1990, 1994・1995, 1996・1997, 1998・1999, and 2000・2001. In 2001, he received the Distinguished Faculty Award from Florida Blue Key Fraternity for outstanding service to the University of Florida. In 2006, he received an award from the Florida Entomological Society in recognition of Achievement for Teaching in Higher Education. He introduced a graduate course in Insect Physiology for entomology students at Florida A&M University, Tallahassee, FL, in the fall term, 2006. The course was taught principally by interactive TV from Gainesville, with a few visits to the A&M campus. At the annual HONORS BANQUET on April 15, 2010, he was selected as the 2010/2011 Honors Professor of the Year at the University of Florida. He edited (with two others) the International Journal of Chemical Ecology from 1995 to 2000. He was the editor of the Florida Entomologist, An International Journal for the Americas from 2004 to 2010. In 2011 he received an award from the Florida Entomological Society in recognition of Editorial Services to the Society for editing the Florida Entomologist. He has authored or co‑authored more than 85 scientific publications in refereed journals and short articles in the Encyclopedia of Entomology (John Capinera, Editor). He is the author of Insect Physiology and Biochemistry (CRC Press), a textbook for graduate and undergraduate studies. The first edition was published in 2002, a revised 2nd edition of the book was published in April 2008, a 3rd revised edition was published in August 2015, and a 4th revision was published in 2022. His e‑mail address is JLN@ufl.edu