Elevenin signaling modulates body color through the tyrosine-mediated cuticle melanism pathway.

Elevenin is a newly discovered novel neuropeptide. Knockdown of either elevenin or orphan receptor NlA42 transcript expression by RNA interference caused severe cuticle melanization in the brown planthopper (BPH). Injection of a synthetic elevenin peptide not only rescued the body color phenotype in dselevenin-pretreated individuals but also suppressed melanization of black insects grown in natural conditions.

Forkhead box transcription factor L2 activates to regulate insect chorion formation.

Most animals are oviparous. However, the genes regulating egg shell formation remain not very clear. In this study, we found that Forkhead box transcription factor L2 (FoxL2) directly activated follicle cell protein 3C () to regulate chorion formation.