what is diapause in insects?
406265
Many species of insects have evolved a strategy called diapause. Diapause is a suspension of development that can occur at the embryonic, larval, pupal, or adult stage, depending on the species. In some species, diapause is facultative and occurs only when induced by environmental conditions; in other species the diapause period has become an obligatory part of the life cycle. The latter is often seen in temperate-zone insects, where diapause is induced by changes in the photoperiod (the relative lengths of day and night). The day length when 50% of the population has entered diapuase is called the critical day length, and it is usually quite sudden. Insects entering diapuse when the day length falls below this threshold are called long day insects. Those insects that develop normally when there are only a few hours of sunlight and that enter diapuse when exposed to longer days are called short-day insects. The critical day length is a genetically determined property.\n\nDiapause is not a physiological response brought about by harsh conditions. Rather, it is brought about by token stimuli that presage a change in the environment. Diapause begins before the actual severe conditions arise. Diapause is especially important in temperate zone insects that overwinter. Embryos of the silkworm moth Bombyx mori overwinter as embryos, entering diapuse just before segmentation. The gypsy moth Lymantia dispar initiates its diapause as a fully formed larva, ready to hatch as soon as diapause ends. Other insects experience diapause as eggs, pupae, or even as adults.
839288
there part of a group of insects that only live a short while, a few weeks or more. so they have to find a mate quickly and reproduce, just nature thats all.
152507
It depends on the insect. Some die off leaving eggs behind to hatch next season (like the Praying Mantis). I have heard some critters replace the water in their bodies with glycerin so they don't freeze during the cold months.
1084539
Here's an answer to that question from an entomologist.
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Deer tick.  It has an interesting lifecycle requiring three alternating hosts.
592516
sounds to me like it might be clover mites.\n\nhttp://www.uky.edu/Ag/Entomology/entfacts/struct/ef627.htm
356306
It could be menopause.  Menopause is the medical term for the end of a woman's menstrual periods. It is a natural part of aging, and occurs when the ovaries stop making hormones called estrogens. This causes estrogen levels to drop, and leads to the end of monthly menstual periods. This usually happens between the ages of 45 and 60, but it can happen earlier. Menopause can also occur when the ovaries are surgically removed or stop functioning for any other reason
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Yes they do.\n\nQuote from article found at http://ant.edb.miyakyo-u.ac.jp/ \n\n---quote begins---\nAlthough ants can be seen in various places from spring to autumn, they go into hibernation in the winter. In addition, from spring to autumn, many ants are seen to come from, and go into, the entrances of their nests, but these entrances are closed in winter and no ants are seen to come from there.\nWhere do ants pass the winter?\n---quote ends---\n\nFind out more from\nhttp://ant.edb.miyakyo-u.ac.jp/BE/Kingdom/5657/5657e.html
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Indeed other mammals do have periods or seasons and indeed this is closely connected to fertility and sometime being "in season" or "on heat". However across the spread of mammals alone there is a phenomenal range of differences. For example the lifespan of some small rodents is less than the gestation period of an elephant. Curiously a species to which they are closely connected.\nFemale kangaroos virtually exhibit all the stages of the reproductive cycle at once, fertile, pregnant and raising young.\nIn short mammal periods do happen but don't generally conform to human monthly cycles.
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Insects do not have an internal skeletal system, they have exoskeletons.  So all insects are invertibrates.
240816
It is in the range of 15 to 30 days depending on the season.\nVisit:\nhttp://www.kidzworld.com/site/p5758.htm\nhttp://bugs.bio.usyd.edu.au/Entomology/lifecycles/imagePages/fly_lifecycle.html
1100021
Mosquitos don't care to much about how cold it gets in their dormant phase, so long as there is some warm time for their active phase\n\nI have been savaged by Mosquitos in Alaska a couple of hundred miles north of Anchorage.\n\nI assume there are some of the little buggers that come out for the brief summer in Nome.
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Yes.  Haven't you noticed there are less flies in winter?  Mosquitoes lava needs water to develop so you get tons of mozzies after a good rain.  Bettles live in the ground until summer brings them up to the surface.  Its all about the seasons, insect life cycles and food availability.\n\nGood luck with you assignment.
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Mosquitoes, and all insects, are like cold blooded animals even though they do not actually have blood. They are usually whatever temperature the surrounding air is. At lower temperatures, insects will become inactive because they can no longer use their legs or wings. This is why if you go for an early morning walk when it's still chilly but the sun is up, you'll see bees "waiting" inside flowers, as if they're dead, and you'll see flies and dragonflies sitting on stems and rocks motionless as they absorb heat from the sun so that they can move quickly again. It's actually quite funny to watch since they are moving so sluggishly!
1016364
An infestation is where, in this case, a certain insect takes over something, plants, trees, fields, areas, etc... and becomes uncontrollable.  This in turn affects neighboring plants, trees, etc... and the infestation continues to grow beyond the means of reasonable control. Infestation can be from leaf to leaf, plant to plant, all the way up to region to region.\n\nAn incidence is where one or a few insects are found, or the damage from these insects, but does not spread, or is limited to a one time occurance that, with proper management, may be kept in check or the insects are completely killed with no other incidence recorded.  Usually it is isolated or one time incident.
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One common bug with that colour pattern is called the box elder bug.\n\nThey feed on the leaves of maple trees (also called box elders), and can become minor nuisances when they start moving into people's houses in the late summer and fall, looking for a place to spend the winter.\n\nThey'll bunch up in big masses in crawl spaces, attics, behind the walls, or in unused rooms and closets.  \n\nSometimes, if it gets warm enough in winter, they'll wake up and go for a wander.  For some reason, they usually wait until company is over, and then they go slowly buzzing across the room before landing on your bosses' wife's hair.\n\nThe best way to take care of them is actually a vacuum cleaner.  They're perfectly harmless, and can be sucked up and disposed of with ease.\n\nHere's some pictures http://www.royalalbertamuseum.ca/natural/insects/bugsfaq/boxeld.htm\n\nhttp://www.extension.umn.edu/yardandgarden/YGLNews/images/boxelderbug.jpg
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The mating season, lasting from September to October, is followed by a nine-month gestation period after which 600- 700 eggs are laid and wrapped in a silky cocoon which the female, alone, guards aggressively. The mother tolerates the babies for a short period of time in which she might even feed them regurgitated food, but very briefly. Within a matter of weeks, or certainly by the time the female has her next molt, the babies are on their own. The mortality rate is very high and ants are a major menace. The life span of the female is thought to be 15- 25 years and possibly more than that. The male lives a much shorter time, not only because the female sometimes eats him, but more frequently because he does not molt correctly, or cannot escape his molt for some reason. Also, the male is usually the one seeking to mate, and so is more exposed to predictors.