Seasonal Adaptations of Insects as Revealed by Latitudinal Diapause Clines
Year: 1999
Type: article
Abstract: To stimulate further study on seasonal adaptations in insects, two hypotheses are proposed, one accounting for latitudinal variations in diapause intensity and the other pertaining to the phenotypic plasticity of critical photoperiod for diapause induction. (1) In some species with constant voltinism, diapause intensity increases southward to cope with higher risks of untimely termination of diapause before winter. In other species with variable voltinism, it decreases southward presumably because of stronger selection for nondiapause phenotypes and positive correlations between diapause intensity and incidence. (2) Clinal variations of critical photoperiod for diapause induction may be mimicked by phenotypic responses to temperature. Such plasticity expands the latitudinal range of adaptation. In a noctuid moth, the critical photoperiod is increased by long photoperiods in the early stage of development, so that photoperiod itself may also be involved in phenotypic adaptation to climatic gradients.
Author: Sinzo Masaki
Language: English
Subfield: Ecology
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W416770753