Study
Regulation of Diapause
Denlinger, David L.
Annual Review of Entomology, 2002
A synthesis of what triggers, maintains and ends diapause in insects — the sensitive stage, the photoperiodic and thermal cues, the hormonal control, and the chilling requirement that must be satisfied before development can resume.
- Studied in
- Insecta
- Sample size
- review of diapause regulation across insect groups
Diapause is a programmed developmental arrest initiated in advance of adverse conditions, not a response to them. It is cued at a species-specific sensitive stage, often generations before the arrest itself, is hormonally maintained, and typically requires a period of chilling before it can be terminated — so an insect in diapause cannot be woken by a warm spell.
What it means
The authors' reading, and ours. Where they differ, that difference is the point.
How the authors put it
Diapause is best understood as a distinct developmental pathway under endocrine control, with entry, maintenance and termination each separately regulated.
How NatureHQ reads it
This is the strongest version of committing early. The insect stops developing before winter arrives, and the requirement for weeks of cold before it can restart means the commitment cannot be reversed by mistake — a warm November will not wake it up. It also means a winter too mild to satisfy the chilling requirement leaves the animal stuck, which is a failure mode that only appears when winters warm.
- Regulation differs substantially between diapause stages and between species.
- The endocrine account is best characterised in a handful of laboratory species.
- Field validation of chilling requirements is patchy.
What this study is used for on NatureHQ
One study can inform several subjects. Here is everywhere this one is cited.
Published by: Annual ReviewsPublished in an Annual Reviews journal.
doi.org/10.1146/annurev.ento.47.091201.145137
This reference was resolved automatically against Crossref on 2026-08-11.
NatureHQ summarises research in its own words and does not reproduce published text. Reviewed 2026-08-11.