Endocrine gland Endocrine gland Endocrine glands are glands of the endocrine system that secrete their products, hormones, directly into the blood rather than through a duct. The major glands of the endocrine system include the pineal gland, pituitary gland, pancreas, ovaries, testes, thyroid gland, parathyroid gland, hypothalamus and adrenal glands. The hypothalamus and pituitary gland are neuroendocrine organs. The pituitary gland hangs from the base of the brain by a stalk and is enclosed by bone. It consists of a hormone-producing glandular portion (anterior pituitary) and a neural portion (posterior pituitary), which is an extension of the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus regulates the
Prothoracicotropic hormone or an abdomen under diapause would induce molting or pupation. Thus, the brain was originally thought to be the source of the hormone that induces molting in insects. Later it was established that the insect brain produces a number of hormones, but the hormone which was the cause of the observations made by Kopeć and Wigglesworth was prothoracicotropic hormone. PTTH is secreted by a neurohemal organ, the corpus cardiacum (in some insects the corpus allatum secretes PTTH) which is actually a discrete structure posterior to the brain. PTTH is released in response to environmental stimuli and as its name implies