Model organisms have been extensively used as accessible and convenient systems to study key biological and biomedical questions. A model organisms is a simple, tractable system that can be used to study a larger theme of biology or disease. Model organisms must be easy to culture under controlled conditions, have life cycles short enough to allow breeding experiments over many generations, and be small enough to make the production of large numbers of individuals practical and economically feasible. Insects have been popular model organisms for more than 100 years. In contemporary life sciences, obvious ethical and practical handicaps strictly limit the scope for experiments using vertebrates. In contrast, there are many technical and ethical advantages of using insects over vertebrate models. Over decades, many people have worked successfully on these models, which has led to the development of specific tools and resources and the rapid accumulation of extended knowledge, thereby providing the infrastructure for ongoing and future studies.This cumulative habilitation thesis presents a set of original papers which outline the characteristics of insect species as model organisms in two different areas: (A) Insect models for basic and biomedical research and (B) Bees as model organisms for pollinator health and risk assessment. The first part describes the role of four insect species in the fields of developmental biology, aging and biomedical research. First, the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster is presented as the most relevant insect model organism for developmental and aging studies. The red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum is introduced as a model for biomedical research and the two grasshopper species Locusta migratoria and Schistocerca gregaria are discussed as models for embryonic development.In the second part, the economically most relevant pollinator species Apis mellifera and a representative of solitary bee species, the red mason bee Osmia bicornis, are discussed as model organism for pollinator health. Research articles about lethal and sublethal effects of pesticides demonstrate the usefulness of honey bees and mason bees in pesticide risk assessment schemes, with special focus on effects on the immune system of these important pollinators.
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