Abstract: The methods for studying hydrocarbons and their applications to taxonomy are reviewed. Hydrocarbons are major and abundant components of insect epicuticle, the most external layer of insect cuticle. A highly sensitive method for their characterization is gas chromato graphy (GC) with capillary columns and various detectors, including mass spectrometry (MS) that gives structural information directly. According to the character ization of hydrocarbons, some insects can be discriminated from their sibling species and are studied among subspecies.

Key words: cuticle, hydrocarbons, GC-MS, insect taxonomy