Rapid responses to high temperature and desiccation but not to low temperature in the freeze tolerant sub-Antarctic caterpillar Pringleophaga marioni (Lepidoptera, Tineidae)
Date
2003
Authors
Sinclair B.J.
Chown S.L.
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Abstract
A broad definition of rapid cold hardening (RCH) is that it is the process whereby insects increase their survival of a sub-zero temperature after a brief (h) pre-exposure to a less severe low temperature. The effects of various pre-treatments on survival of two h at -7.9°C were investigated in the freeze tolerant sub-Antarctic caterpillar Pringleophaga marioni (Lepidoptera: Tineidae), the first time RCH has been investigated in a freeze tolerant arthropod. All caterpillars froze when exposed to -7.9°C, and none of the low temperature pre-treatments (-5, 0, 5 and 15°C, as well as -5°C and 0°C with a delay before freezing) nor slow cooling (0.1°C/min) elicited any improvement in survival of -7.9°C as compared to controls. However, high temperature treatments (25, 30 and 35°C), desiccation and acclimation for 5 days at 0°C did result in significant increases in survival of the test temperature, possibly as a result of heat shock protein production. Haemolymph osmolality was elevated only by the 35°C pre-treatment. It is suggested that the unpredictable environment of Marion Island means that P. marioni must always be physiologically prepared to survive cold snaps, and that this year-round cold hardiness therefore supersedes a rapid cold hardening response. © 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Description
Keywords
acclimation, cold tolerance, desiccation, freezing, heat shock, survival, acclimatization, animal, Arctic, article, desiccation, environment, freezing, growth, development and aging, Lepidoptera, physiology, temperature, Acclimatization, Animals, Arctic Regions, Desiccation, Environment, Freezing, Lepidoptera, Temperature, Arthropoda, Hexapoda, Lepidoptera, Phacelia congesta, Tineidae
Citation
Journal of Insect Physiology
49
1
49
1