Evolutionary reconstruction of the ecdysis pathway shows that its major elements are present in the majority of metazoans, providing evidence that they originated much earlier than currently assumed.

The response of the peptidergic neurons that control a stereotyped behavior depends on the actions of a triggering neuropeptide, downstream neuropeptides and GABA inhibitory influences.

The elementary units of a fruit fly behavioral sequence are described at single-muscle resolution and shown to exhibit variability that is subject to neuromodulatory regulation.

Using targeted functional manipulations of neural activity to map neuromodulatory connections can deliver considerable insight into the functional architecture of a behaviorally important network even in the absence of information about its synaptic connectivity.

Prothoracicotropic hormone and ecdysone belonging to the insect PG axis modulate virgin female sexual receptivity.

Ecdysone-mediated repression of the TMEM16 channel subdued initiates a sensory switch in peripheral nociceptors during Drosophila larval development, increasing thermal nociceptive behavior and reducing responsiveness to ultraviolet light.

Belly roll, Bero, an Ly6/α-neurotoxin family protein, is identified as a critical modulator of peptidergic interneurons in Drosophila melanogaster, shedding light on genetic regulations of nociceptive escape behaviors and providing a potential target for future studies on pain perception.

Understanding novel cell types and their evolutionary history is re-evaluated using single nuclei transcriptomic approaches and their inferred underlying gene regulatory networks.