Characteristics of the Insulin-like Peptide Genes and Their Roles in the Ovarian Development of (Coquillett).

The melon fly (Coquillett) is a globally invasive pest responsible for substantial economic losses in the fruit and vegetable industries. Insulin-like peptides (ILPs) are evolutionarily conserved neuropeptides that play a crucial role in insect reproduction. In this study, six from the melon fly, designated as -, were cloned. Phylogenetic analysis demonstrated a strong orthologous link with Dipteran ILPs. Spatiotemporal expression profiling revealed that and exhibit preferential enrichment in the adult female fat body, with their expression specifically and significantly upregulated in 5-day-old individuals. Their expression decreased 12, 24, and 48 h post-starvation and increased upon re-feeding. Silencing and resulted in reduced ovarian size by 51.42% and 69.17%, respectively. Furthermore, silencing or significantly decreased the transcriptional levels of genes downstream of the insulin signaling pathway (ISP), notably the () and (). Concurrently, the expression of (), a gene associated with reproduction, was significantly downregulated. These findings indicate that and regulate expression and ovarian development through ISP, suggesting them as potential targets for green control of .