With the onset of autumn and subsequent cold weather, all life on Earth is prepared for winter. The most numerous class of animals in the world is not an exception - insects. For example, some butterflies climb into the hollows and under the bark of trees for the winter, into the attics of old houses. But not all insects hibernate this way. Some of them in winter are generally in the stages of eggs, larvae, pupae or caterpillars, turning into an adult insect only in the spring, if, of course, they are lucky enough to live to see it.
Instructions
Step 1
The vast majority of temperate climate insects survive the winter, falling into a certain state called diapause. Diapause resembles the state of suspended animation in warm-blooded and cold-blooded vertebrates (bears, hedgehogs, frogs, lizards). During diapause, insects slow down their metabolism and other vital processes. This is what helps them withstand low winter temperatures.
Step 2
It should be noted that, unlike the hibernation of warm-blooded animals (hedgehogs, bears, shrews, moles), which can be interrupted from time to time by a short awakening, the "winter sleep" of insects is the deepest and requires certain conditions for its termination. As a rule, insect hibernation depends on the length of daylight hours and on the presence of a certain temperature regime.
Step 3
The difference between the hibernation of insects and the hibernation of warm-blooded animals is that in the latter it entirely depends on the availability of food resources. It is curious that insects can hibernate at any stage of their development - from egg to imago (adult insect). Diapause occurs in different ways in different insect species. For example, mourning butterflies avoid freezing by adding a special coolant to their body (in the language of motorists - "antifreeze").
Step 4
The mourning butterfly is able to replace the water contained in its body with natural "antifreeze", which it produces itself. It contains so-called cryoprotectants that protect all fluids and soft tissues in her body from low temperatures. Other insects generally freeze all available fluids in their bodies as a diapause.
Step 5
But not all insects that survive the winter cold fall into a state of diapause. Such social insects as wasps, bees, termites, and some species of ants do not go into “winter sleep”. With the onset of the autumn cold, these creatures go deep into their nests, hives, anthills. They tightly cover all entrances to their dwellings with leaves and other organic materials. They lead a semi-active lifestyle underground or deep in their nests.
Step 6
Entomologists who have studied the behavior of honey bees in winter note that when the ambient air temperature drops to + 7 ° C, these creatures gather in the hive in a whole bunch, maintaining the temperature in it at a level from + 15 ° C to + 25 ° C. Entomologists have found that these creatures generate heat by contracting the pterygoid muscles on their backs. Those bees that are closer to the exits play the role of a heat-insulating layer, and from time to time they are replaced by their congeners: bees that are already frozen, make their way into the depths of the hive, where warmed relatives replace them. It is curious that these bees feed on food stored since summer all winter.
