Mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) can visualize the composition, abundance, and spatial distribution of molecules in tissues or cells, which has been widely used in the research of life science. Insects, especially the agricultural pests, have received a great deal of interests from the scientists in biodiversity and food security. This review introduces the major characteristics of MSI, summarizes its application to the investigation of insect endogenous metabolites, exogenous metabolites, and the spatiotemporal changes of metabolites between insects and plants, and discusses its shortfalls and perspectives. The significance of these concerns is beneficial for future insect research such as physiology and metabolism.

中文翻译：

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质谱成像：一种用于分析昆虫代谢产物的新兴技术。

质谱成像（MSI）可以可视化组织或细胞中分子的组成，丰度和空间分布，这已广泛用于生命科学研究。在生物多样性和粮食安全方面，昆虫尤其是农业害虫引起了科学家的极大兴趣。综述了MSI的主要特征，总结了其在昆虫内源性代谢物，外源性代谢物以及昆虫与植物之间代谢物的时空变化研究中的应用，并探讨了其不足和观点。这些关注的意义对于未来的昆虫研究（例如生理学和新陈代谢）是有益的。