In search for non-steroidogenic functions of the prothoracic glands of the desert locust, Schistocerca gregaria: a peptidomic and proteomic approach.

The only well established function of the prothoracic glands (PGs) of insects is the production of ecdysteroids. In gregarious locusts, like in most insect species, the PGs degenerate soon after the adult molt. In this way they resemble the thymus of mammals, a gland with an important role in the build up of the immune system in young animals.