What is mosquito diapause?

What is mosquito diapause?

Abstract. Diapause, a dominant feature in the life history of many mosquito species, offers a mechanism for bridging unfavorable seasons in both temperate and tropical environments and serves to synchronize development within populations, thus directly affecting disease transmission cycles.

What happens during an insects diapause?

Diapause is a period of suspended or arrested development during an insect’s life cycle. Insect diapause is usually triggered by environmental cues, like changes in daylight, temperature, or food availability. Diapause may occur in any life cycle stage—embryonic, larval, pupal, or adult—depending on the insect species.

What is the difference between dormancy and diapause?

Dormancy is a temporary phase in which an animal’s physical activity, growth and development are paused….Difference Between Diapause and Hibernation.

Diapause Hibernation
It is marked as a dormant stage in the nourishment and development of an organism. It is a state of inactivation in mature ectothermic organisms.
Reason for Happening

Do all insects go into diapause?

Diapause is observed in all the life stages of arthropods, especially insects. Embryonic diapause, a somewhat similar phenomenon, occurs in over 130 species of mammals, possibly even in humans, and in the embryos of many of the oviparous species of fish in the order Cyprinodontiformes.

What is the main function of diapause in insects?

Diapause is an endogenously regulated dormant state that provides a means for insects to survive seasons of adverse environmental conditions and allows populations to synchronize periods of active development and reproduction with seasons of optimal resource availability (Koštál, 2006; Lees, 1955; Tauber et al., 1986).

What is meant by embryonic diapause?

Embryonic diapause (ED) is a temporary arrest of embryo development and is characterized by delayed implantation in the uterus. ED occurs in blastocysts of less than 2% of mammalian species, including the mouse (Mus musculus).

How long can diapause last?

The pause can last anywhere between a couple of days and 11 months. In most species (except some bats, who do it a little later) this happens when the embryo is a tiny ball of about 80 cells, before it attaches to the uterus.

What triggers diapause?

Developmental Timing Diapause can be triggered in embryos by blocking developmental growth. Some species undergo diapause as early embryos, while others enter diapause as pharate first instar larvae (“hatch-ready” larvae) within the eggshell.

What is common to diapause?

Diapause is commonly observed in insects. Hibernation is common among higher animals as well as invertebrates such as arthropods. Hibernation is seen in mammals such as bats, prairie dogs and ground squirrels.

What are the advantages of diapause?

Diapause provides two distinct advantages. The first of these is synchronization of the life-cycle with favourable seasons of the year as already discussed. The second advantage is resistance to unfavourable conditions (extremes of temperature, drought, or lack of food).

How long can embryonic diapause last?

Thus, the tammar embryo can remain in diapause for 11 months (Fig. 3). This system increases the chances that one offspring will be produced each season and will only emerge from the pouch at an optimal time to ensure its survival in the spring, when food is abundant and lactation is most energy demanding.

Can armadillos delay pregnancy?

Armadillos, like a few other mammals, have long been known to delay the implantation of early embryos into the uterine wall for three to four months. This, plus a five-month period of active development, makes their normal term of gestation eight to nine months.

Why is the diapause of mosquitoes so important?

Diapause, a dominant feature in the life history of many mosquito species, offers a mechanism for bridging unfavorable seasons in both temperate and tropical environments and serves to synchronize development within populations, thus directly affecting disease transmission cycles. The trait appears … Mosquito diapause Annu Rev Entomol.

Are there any cases of pupal diapause in mosquitoes?

In mosquitoes, we are aware of no cases of pupal diapause, and all instances of embryonic diapause involve an arrest at the stage of the pharate first-instar larva; at that point in development embryogenesis has been completed and the mosquito remains as a ‘hidden larva’ within the chorion of the egg, waiting to hatch.

What is the phenotype of a diapause mosquito?

We discuss embryonic, larval and adult diapauses in mosquitoes and probe the molecular and physiological distinctions that comprise the diapause phenotype. Diapause evokes diverse and unique attributes including behavioural changes, arrested development, enhanced stress tolerance, fat accumulation and suppressed metabolic rates.

How are embryonic mosquitoes programmed to be diapauses?

Though most embryonic mosquito diapauses are facultative (programmed by environmental signals) some, especially diapauses of univoltine species from high latitudes, are obligate (ie, genetically programmed without influence from the environment) ( Denlinger and Armbruster, 2014 ).