At the end of metamorphosis, the intersegmental muscles of the moth Antheraea polyphemus undergo rapid degeneration in response to the peptide eclosion hormone (EH). Muscle death was preceded by a 22-fold increase in muscle guanosine-3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (cGMP) titers, which peaked 60 min after peptide exposure; adenosine-3'5'-cyclic monophosphate (cAMP) titers remained unchanged. EH induced a dose-dependent increase in muscle cGMP content with a threshold dose similar to that needed to induce cell death. Exogenous cGMP, but not cAMP, mimicked the action of EH. Sodium nitroprusside, a potent stimulator of guanylate cyclase, and methylated xanthines, a class of 3',5'-cyclic-nucleotide phosphodiesterase inhibitors, also induced the selective death of these muscles. It is concluded that an elevation of cGMP level is involved in EH-induced muscle degeneration. The intersegmental muscles become sensitive to EH at the end of adult development in response to the declining titers of the steroid molting hormones, the ecdysteroids. At earlier times, treatment with EH, exogenous cGMP, sodium nitroprusside, or methylated xanthines was ineffective in causing cell death. Nevertheless, treatment with EH at this time resulted in a marked increase in intersegmental-muscle cGMP. Thus, the onset of physiological responsiveness to the peptide hormone presumably results from biochemical changes distal to the EH receptors and guanylate cyclase.