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Diapause
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Diapause is a physiological state of dormancy with very specific triggering and releasing conditions. It is used as a means to survive predictable, unfavourable environmental conditions, such as temperature extremes, drought or reduced food availability. There are various definitions and contexts in which the term is used, but its most common application is in arthropods, especially insects. One of the most explicit definitions, covering many of the important features, is the following:
- "a neurohormonally mediated, dynamic state of low metabolic activity.
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Encyclopedia
Diapause is a physiological state of dormancy with very specific triggering and releasing conditions. It is used as a means to survive predictable, unfavourable environmental conditions, such as temperature extremes, drought or reduced food availability. There are various definitions and contexts in which the term is used, but its most common application is in arthropods, especially insects. One of the most explicit definitions, covering many of the important features, is the following:
- "a neurohormonally mediated, dynamic state of low metabolic activity. Associated with this are reduced morphogenesis, increased resistance to environmental extremes, and altered or reduced behavioral activity. Diapause occurs during a genetically determined stage(s) of metamorphosis, and its full expression develops in a species-specific manner, usually in response to a number of environmental stimuli that precede unfavorable conditions. Once diapause has begun, metabolic activity is suppressed even if conditions favorable for development prevail."
Of primary importance is that diapause is not only induced in an organism by specific stimuli, but once it is initiated, only certain other stimuli are capable of releasing the organism from this state. The latter is essential in distinguishing diapause as a different phenomenon from other forms of dormancy such as hibernation.
A similar phenomenon occurs in the seeds or other resting stages of various plants. In the eggs of various vertebrates there is a phenomenon sometimes known as "embryonic diapause", which is also termed "delayed implantation," and is not directly equivalent to the phenomenon in arthropods, though in both cases there is a cessation of metabolic activity.
Activity levels of diapausing stages can vary considerably among species. Diapause may occur in a completely immobile stage, such as the pupae and eggs, or it may occur in very active stages that undergo extensive migrations, such as the adult Monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus. In cases where the insect remains active, feeding is reduced and reproductive development is slowed or halted.
Phases of insect diapause
Diapause in insects is a dynamic process consisting of several distinct phases (Kostal 2006). While diapause varies considerably from one taxon of insects to another, these phases can be characterized by particular sets of metabolic processes and responsiveness of the insect to certain environmental stimuli.
Induction
The induction phase occurs at a genetically predetermined stage of life and occurs well in advance of the environmental stress. This sensitive stage may occur within the lifetime of the diapausing individual, or in proceeding generations, particularly in egg diapause. During this phase, insects are responsive to external cues called token stimuli, which trigger the switch from direct development pathways to diapause pathways. Token stimuli can consist of changes in photoperiod, thermoperiod or allelochemicals from food plants. These stimuli are not in themselves favourable or unfavourable to development, but they herald an impending change in environmental conditions.
Preparation
The preparation phase usually follows the induction phase, though insects may go directly from induction to initiation without a preparation phase. During this phase, insects accumulate and store molecules such as lipids, proteins and carbohydrates. These molecules are used to maintain the insect throughout diapause and to provide fuel for development following diapause termination. Composition of the cuticle may be altered by changing hydrocarbon composition and by adding lipids to reduce water loss. Diapausing puparia of the flesh fly Sarcophaga crassipalpis increase the amount of cuticular hydrocarbons lining the puparium, effectively reducing the ability of water to cross the cuticle.
Initiation
The initiation phase begins when morphological development ceases. In some cases, this change may be very distinct and can involve moulting into a specific diapause stage, or be accompanied by colour change. Enzymatic changes may take place in preparation for cold hardening. For example, only diapausing adults of the fire bug, Pyrrhocoris apterus, have the enzymatic complement that allows them to accumulate polyhydric alcohols, molecules that help to lower their freezing points and thus avoid freezing. Insects may also undergo behavioural changes and begin to aggregate, migrate or search for suitable overwintering sites.
Maintenance
During the maintenance phase, insects experience lowered metabolism and developmental arrest is maintained. Sensitivity to certain stimuli which act to prevent termination of diapause, such as photoperiod and temperature, is increased. At this stage, insects are unresponsive to changes in the environment that will eventually trigger the end of diapause, but they grow more sensitive to these stimuli as time progresses.
Termination
In insects that undergo obligate diapause, termination may occur spontaneously, without any external stimuli . In facultative diapausers, token stimuli must occur to terminate diapause. These stimuli may include chilling, freezing or contact with water, depending on the environmental conditions being avoided. These stimuli are important in preventing the insect from terminating diapause too soon, for instance in response to warm weather in late fall. Termination may occur at the height of unfavourable conditions, such as in the middle of winter. Over time, depth of diapause slowly decreases until direct development can resume, if conditions are favourable.
Post-diapause quiescence
Diapause frequently ends prior to the end of unfavourable conditions and is followed by a state of quiescence from which the insect can arouse and begin direct development, should conditions change to become more favourable. This allows the insect to continue to withstand harsh conditions while being ready to take advantage of good conditions as rapidly as possible.
Regulation of diapause
Diapause in insects is regulated at several levels. Environmental stimuli interact with genetic pre-programming to affect neuronal signalling, endocrine pathways and eventually metabolic and enzymatic changes.
Environmental
Environmental regulators of diapause generally display a characteristic seasonal pattern. In temperate regions, photoperiod is one of the most reliable cues of seasonal change. Depending on the season in which diapause occurs, either short or long days can act as token stimuli. Insects may also respond to changing day length as well as relative day length. Temperature may also act as a regulating factor, either by inducing diapause or, more commonly, by modifying the response of the insect to photoperiod. Insects may respond to thermoperiod, the daily fluctuations of warm and cold that correspond with night and day, as well as to absolute or cumulative temperature. Food availability and quality may also help regulate diapause. In the desert locust, Schistocerca gregaria, a plant hormone called giberellin stimulates reproductive development. During the dry season, when their food plants are in senescence and lacking giberellin, the locusts remain immature and reproductive tracts do not develop.
Neuroendocrine
The neuroendocrine system of insects consists primarily of neurosecretory cells in the brain, the corpora cardiaca, corpora allata and the prothoracic glands. There are several key hormones involved in the regulation of diapause: juvenile hormone (JH), diapause hormone (DH), and prothoracicotropic hormone.
Prothoracicotropic hormone stimulates the prothoracic glands to produce ecdysteroids that are required to promote development. Larval and pupal diapauses are often regulated by an interruption of this connection, either by preventing release of prothoracicotropic hormone from the brain or by failure of the prothoracic glands to respond to prothoracicotropic hormone.
The corpora allata is responsible for the production of juvenile hormone. In the bean bug, Riptortus pedestris, clusters of neurons on the protocerebrum called the pars lateralis maintain reproductive diapause by inhibiting JH production by the corpora allata. Adult diapause is often associated with the absence of JH, while larval diapause is often associated with its presence.
In adults, absence of JH causes degeneration of flight muscles, atrophy or cessation of development of reproductive tissues, and halts mating behaviour. The presence of JH in larvae may prevent moulting to the next larval instar, though successive stationary moults may still occur. In the corn borer, Diatraea gradiosella, JH is required for the accumulation by the fat body of a storage protein that is associated with diapause.
Diapause hormone regulates embryonic diapause in the eggs of the silkworm moth, Bombyx mori. DH is released from the subesophogeal ganglion of the mother and triggers trehalase production by the ovaries. This generates high levels of glycogen in the eggs, which is converted into the polyhydric alcohols glycerol and sorbitol. Sorbitol directly inhibits the development of the embryos. Glycerol and sorbitol are reconverted into glycogen at the termination of diapause.
Tropical diapause
Diapause in the tropics is often in response to biotic rather than abiotic factors. For example, food in the form of vertebrate carcasses may be more abundant following dry seasons, or oviposition sites in the form of fallen trees may be more available following rainy seasons. Also, diapause may serve to synchronize mating seasons or reduce competition, rather than to avoid unfavourable climatic conditions.
Diapause in the tropics poses several challenges to insects that are not faced in temperate zones. Insects must reduce their metabolism without the aid of cold temperatures and may be faced with increased water loss due to high temperatures. While cold temperatures inhibit the growth of fungi and bacteria, diapausing tropical insects still have to deal with these pathogens. Also, predators and parasites may still be abundant during the diapause period.
Aggregations are common among diapausing tropical insects, especially in the orders Coleoptera, Lepidoptera and Hemiptera. Aggregations may be used as protection against predation, since aggregating species are frequently toxic and predators quickly learn to avoid them. They can also serve to reduce water loss, as seen in the fungus beetle, Stenotarsus rotundus, which forms aggregations of up to 70,000 individuals, which may be 8 beetles deep. Relative humidity is increased within the aggregations and beetles experience less water loss, probably due to decreased surface area to volume ratios reducing evaporative water loss.
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