Photoperiod-induced plasticity of thermosensitivity and acquired thermotolerance inLocusta migratoria

Abstract

of photoperiod, heat pre-treatment and the sex of the animal on ventilatory rate, time-to-failure and time-torecovery. The ventilatory motor pattern of 16:8 and 12:12 locusts responded differently to increasing and maintained high temperature stress in both control and heat shocked locusts. We found that 12:12 locusts were generally more robust than 16:8 locusts: they lived longer, they showed greater tolerance to high temperatures, and they recovered more quickly from temperature-induced circuit failure. A faster ventilatory rate in 12:12 animals at high temperatures may have accelerated evaporative cooling to mediate improved temperature tolerance.

Thermal acclimation, heat shock and photoperiod: Do these factors interplay in the adaptive responses of crab neuromuscular systems to temperature?

“…This raised the question of whether other environmental factors, such as photoperiod, might interact with temperature in the attainment of seasonal responses. The literature is sparse on the interaction of photoperiod and temperature in crustaceans with the exception of effects on reproduction (e.g., Hamasaki, et al, 2004), however, Rodgers et al (2006) report a significant effect of photoperiod on ventilatory motor pattern generation in locusts. Stillman and Tagmount (2009) have also shown seasonal effects on porcelain crab cardiac muscle gene expression.…”

Insect responses to heat: physiological mechanisms, evolution and ecological implications in a warming world

“…Heat tolerance varies among individuals within and among populations (Sinclair, Williams & Terblanche, ) and is strongly affected by multiple organismal and environmental factors. For instance, heat tolerance is affected by life stage (Kingsolver et al ., ; Zhang, Rudolf & Ma, ), age (Bowler & Terblanche, ; Chidawanyika et al ., ), wing morph (Lu et al ., ), sex (Blanckenhorn et al ., ), body size (Baudier et al ., ), body colour (Rajpurohit, Parkash & Ramniwas, ), individual condition (Terblanche et al ., ), food availability (Krebs & Loeschcke, ; Adamo et al ., ), photoperiod (Rodgers, Shoemaker & Robertson, ), oxygen availability (Bozinovic & Pörtner, ; Verberk et al ., ), environmental contamination (Noyes et al ., ), the presence of symbionts (Dunbar et al ., ), and the temperature conditions experienced by the parents (Abram et al ., ). Therefore, rather than assuming that all individuals in a population respond to high temperatures in the same way, multiple factors that define individual variation in heat tolerance should be tested together in experimental studies to obtain information that can be used to predict larger scale responses to increasing temperatures, such as changes in geographic ranges and evolutionary trajectories (Sinclair et al ., ).…”