During development, organisms progress from a single, unpatterned mass of cells to fully functional individuals. Much of what we know about development comes from a handful of powerful and well-established model systems across the tree of life. These systems have provided insight into the developmental mechanisms that shape organismal form. Insects account for more than one-third of all known animal species, highlighting their importance for understanding development more broadly.

Today, research across diverse insect systems is advancing our understanding of developmental processes, patterning, and morphogenesis. From studying embryonic development at the whole-organism level to analyzing cellular events using insect-derived cells, researchers are expanding our understanding of animal development. This diverse research landscape has been further enriched by technical advances over the past decade. From innovative tissue dissection strategies to expression visualization techniques such as Hybridization Chain Reaction, as well as spatial and single-cell sequencing technologies, researchers now have a broader toolkit for addressing developmental questions.

This Topical Collection highlights exciting areas of research where modern molecular techniques and creative experimental approaches are applied to insect models to investigate developmental processes. We invite researchers working across a broad range of insect systems and developmental biology topics to consider submitting their work. JoVE’s unique approach to scientific visualization will help both the research community and broader audiences observe how insects develop while showcasing the experimental approaches used to study these processes.