Adipokinetic hormones (AKHs) play an important role in the regulation of carbohydrate and lipid metabolism in insects. Recently, genes encoding two AKHs and an AKH receptor (AKHR; a G protein-coupled receptor) were identified and their developmental expression characterized for the African Malaria mosquito, Anopheles gambiae. This work led to the following report on the endocrine regulation of nutrient metabolism and flight performance of female A. gambiae by the octapeptide AKH-1. Biochemical analysis demonstrated that injections of synthetic AKH-1 mobilized glycogen reserves in intact, sugar-fed females, and consequently increased circulating carbohydrate levels in the hemolymph. Targeted RNA-interference experiments lowered AKHR expression in intact sugar-fed females, so that injections of AKH-1 failed to mobilize glycogen reserves. AKH-1 had no effect on lipid mobilization, but it did enhance flight performance, only when injected into decapitated females. In the same bioassays, the decapeptide AKH-2 had no comparable effect, thus its function remains unknown.