[LEPS-L:8030] Re: diapause in midea

Neil Jones neil at nwjones.demon.co.uk
Wed Nov 29 08:01:25 EST 2000


In article <000b01c0582e$c8e71060$9b0f1218 at gscrk1.sc.home.com>,
  "Ron Gatrelle" <gatrelle at tils-ttr.org> wrote:
> The "trigger" for long pupal diapause in A. midea midea is lack of
humidity.
> Midea evolved from a Florida ancestor when Fl had a dry season. This
> evolutionary trait is no longer "needed" however it is still in their
genes.
> I discovered this by accident when I reared the species and kept the
pupae
> inside. Several did not emerge the next year. They looked alive so I
just
> kept them. Heater in winter air-conditioning in summer. The third
spring I
> set them outside and they emerged!!!. (4 or 5 pupa). The orangetips in
the
> southwest US do the same thing. When a really wet spring occurs there
is a
> boom in orangetips.
>

I'd be interested to see a scientific referrence for this.
My understanding of this in Orange Tips is that emergence is triggered
by warmer temperatures after a colder spell. I have had Anthocharis
cardamines lie over like this when kept indoors. I have also had
Pieris napi emerge in February on a windowsill in a cool room
after the frost had got at them for a while a few weeks before due to
poor heating. We don't suffer from low humidity here. It rains a lot.
It hasn't rained today yet but its only one o'clock.




--
Neil Jones- Neil at nwjones.demon.co.uk http://www.nwjones.demon.co.uk/
"At some point I had to stand up and be counted. Who speaks for the
butterflies?" Andrew Lees - The quotation on his memorial at Crymlyn Bog
National Nature Reserve


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