Water balance of over-wintering beetles in relation to strategies for cold tolerance

Updated distributional checklist of the genus Pytho Latreille, 1796 of the Palearctic realm with the first records of P.abieticola J. R. Sahlberg, 1875 from Lithuania and the family Pythidae (Coleoptera) from Moldova and Serbia

Background

Pytho Latreille, 1796 is a small genus of the dead log bark beetles (Coleoptera, Pythidae). All species are distributed in the Holarctic, being recognised as typically boreal taxa, but knowledge about the geographical ranges of particular taxa is far from complete.

New information

The updated distributional checklist of the genus Pytho of the Palearctic is given, based on literature and new records, including citizen-scientific data. Pythodepressus and the family Pythidae are recorded for the first time from the Republic of Moldova (Municipality of Chișinău) and the Republic of Serbia (Municipality of Voždovac) and P.abieticola is recorded for the first time from Lithuania (Alytus District Municipality, Ignalina District Municipality and Kaišiadorys District Municipality).

Morphological and biochemical responses of a neotropical pest insect to low temperatures

As traditionally cold areas become warmer due to climate change, temperature could no longer be a barrier to the establishment of non-native insects. This is particularly relevant for pest insects from warm and tropical areas, mainly those with some tolerance to moderately low temperatures, which could expand their range into these new locations. From this perspective, in this work we studied the morphological and biochemical responses of the Neotropical pest Paysandisia archon to low temperatures, as part of a possible strategy to colonize new areas. To that end, wild larvae were exposed for 7 days to either low (1 and 5 °C) or ambient (23 °C) temperatures. We then quantified the inner and outer morphological changes, by X-Ray Computer Tomography and Digital Holographic Microscopy, as well as the accumulation of metabolites acting as potential endogenous cryoprotectants, by Spectrophotometry. We found that Paysandisia archon developed a cold-induced response based on different aspects. On the one hand, morphological changes occurred with a significant reduction both in fluids susceptible to freezing and fat body, together with the thickening, hardening and increased roughness of the integument. On the other hand, we found an increase in the hemolymph concentration of cryoprotective substances such as glucose (6-fold) and glycerol (2-fold), while trehalose remained unchanged. Surprisingly, this species did not show any evidence of cold-induced response unless the environmental temperature was remarkably low (1 °C). These results could be useful to improve models predicting the possible spread of such a pest, which should incorporate parameters related to its resistance to low temperatures.

The influence of size and abiotic factors on cutaneous water loss

The greatest physiological threat to terrestrial life is dehydration; however, examining the factors that influence water balance in a teaching setting can be problematic. The proposed exercise examines cutaneous water loss using gelatin frogs. The use of models provides a unique approach to learning about water loss without the need of Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee approval or specialized equipment to measure dehydration from relatively small invertebrates. The first described hands-on experiment examines gelatin frogs of different sizes to understand how surface area-to-volume ratio impacts water loss. The second experiment exposes gelatin models to various conditions, such as convective air currents (wind) or extreme temperature, to understand how abiotic factors influence the vapor pressure deficit between the animal and environment and thus water loss. These easily adaptable activities use everyday household items and can be scaled accordingly to classes of different sizes and academic levels. Thus these flexible exercises can be approached through facilitated, guided, or open inquiry, as students formulate hypotheses, design the experiments, create graphs, and interpret the data through answering questions or a write up.

The ins and outs of water dynamics in cold tolerant soil invertebrates

Many soil invertebrates have physiological characteristics in common with freshwater animals and represent an evolutionary transition from aquatic to terrestrial life forms. Their high cuticular permeability and ability to tolerate large modifications of internal osmolality are of particular importance for their cold tolerance. A number of cold region species that spend some or most of their life-time in soil are in more or less intimate contact with soil ice during overwintering. Unless such species have effective barriers against cuticular water-transport, they have only two options for survival: tolerate internal freezing or dehydrate. The risk of internal ice formation may be substantial due to inoculative freezing and many species rely on freeze-tolerance for overwintering. If freezing does not occur, the desiccating power of external ice will cause the animal to dehydrate until vapor pressure equilibrium between body fluids and external ice has been reached. This cold tolerance mechanism is termed cryoprotective dehydration (CPD) and requires that the animal must be able to tolerate substantial dehydration. Even though CPD is essentially a freeze-avoidance strategy the associated physiological traits are more or less the same as those found in freeze tolerant species. The most well-known are accumulation of compatible osmolytes and molecular chaperones reducing or protecting against the stress caused by cellular dehydration. Environmental moisture levels of the habitat are important for which type of cold tolerance is employed, not only in an evolutionary context, but also within a single population. Some species use CPD under relatively dry conditions, but freeze tolerance when soil moisture is high.

Mortality from desiccation contributes to a genotype-temperature interaction for cold survival in Drosophila melanogaster

Survival at cold temperatures is a complex trait, primarily because of the fact that the physiological cause of injury may differ across degrees of cold exposure experienced within the lifetime of an ectothermic individual. In order to better understand how chill-sensitive insects experience and adapt to low temperatures, we investigated the physiological basis for cold survival across a range of temperature exposures from -4 to 6°C in five genetic lines of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. Genetic effects on cold survival were temperature dependent and resulted in a significant genotype-temperature interaction for survival across cold temperature exposures that differ by as little as 2°C. We investigated desiccation as a potential mechanism of injury across these temperature exposures. Flies were dehydrated following exposures near 6°C, whereas flies were not dehydrated following exposures near -4°C. Furthermore, decreasing humidity during cold exposure decreased survival, and increasing humidity during cold exposure increased survival at 6°C, but not at -4°C. These results support the conclusion that in D. melanogaster there are multiple physiological mechanisms of cold-induced mortality across relatively small differences in temperature, and that desiccation contributes to mortality for exposures near 6°C but not for subzero temperatures. Because D. melanogaster has recently expanded its range from tropical to temperate latitudes, the complex physiologies underlying cold tolerance are likely to be important traits in the recent evolutionary history of this fruit fly.

Ecologically relevant measures of tolerance to potentially lethal temperatures

The acute thermal tolerance of ectotherms has been measured in a variety of ways; these include assays where organisms are shifted abruptly to stressful temperatures and assays where organisms experience temperatures that are ramped more slowly to stressful levels. Ramping assays are thought to be more relevant to natural conditions where sudden abrupt shifts are unlikely to occur often, but it has been argued that thermal limits established under ramping conditions are underestimates of true thermal limits because stresses due to starvation and/or desiccation can arise under ramping. These confounding effects might also impact the variance and heritability of thermal tolerance. We argue here that ramping assays are useful in capturing aspects of ecological relevance even though there is potential for confounding effects of other stresses that can also influence thermal limits in nature. Moreover, we show that the levels of desiccation and starvation experienced by ectotherms in ramping assays will often be minor unless the assays involve small animals and last for many hours. Empirical data illustrate that the combined effects of food and humidity on thermal limits under ramping and sudden shifts to stressful conditions are unpredictable; in Drosophila melanogaster the presence of food decreased rather than increased thermal limits, whereas in Ceratitis capitata they had little impact. The literature provides examples where thermal limits are increased under ramping presumably because of the potential for physiological changes leading to acclimation. It is unclear whether heritabilities and population differentiation will necessarily be lower under ramping because of confounding effects. Although it is important to clearly define experimental methods, particularly when undertaking comparative assessments, and to understand potential confounding effects, thermotolerance assays based on ramping remain an important tool for understanding and predicting species responses to environmental change. An important area for further development is to identify the impact of rates of temperature change under field and laboratory conditions.

Probability of freezing in the freeze-avoiding beetle larvae Cucujus clavipes puniceus (Coleoptera: Cucujidae) from interior Alaska

Freeze-avoiding insects must resist freezing or die. A suite of adaptations to low temperatures, including the production of antifreeze proteins, colligative antifreezes (polyols), and dehydration allows most individuals to prevent freezing below the lowest ambient temperatures experienced in situ; however, there can be a wide variance in the minimum temperatures that individuals of freeze-avoiding species reach before freezing. We used logistic regression to explore factors that affect this variance and to estimate the probability of freezing in larvae of the freeze-avoiding beetle Cucujus clavipes puniceus. We hypothesized that water content ≤0.5 mg mg(-1) dry mass would lead to deep supercooling (avoidance of freezing below -58°C). We found a significant interaction between water content and ambient below-snow temperature and a significant difference between individuals collected from two locations in Alaska: Wiseman and Fairbanks. Individuals collected in Wiseman deep supercooled with greater water content and to a greater range of ambient temperatures than individuals collected in Fairbanks, leading to significantly different lethal water contents associated with 50% probability of freezing.

Deep supercooling, vitrification and limited survival to –100°C in the Alaskan beetle Cucujus clavipes puniceus (Coleoptera: Cucujidae) larvae

Larvae of the freeze-avoiding beetle Cucujus clavipes puniceus (Coleoptera: Cucujidae) in Alaska have mean supercooling points in winter of –35 to –42°C, with the lowest supercooling point recorded for an individual of –58°C. We previously noted that some larvae did not freeze when cooled to –80°C, and we speculated that these larvae vitrified. Here we present evidence through differential scanning calorimetry that C. c. puniceus larvae transition into a glass-like state at temperatures <–58°C and can avoid freezing to at least –150°C. This novel finding adds vitrification to the list of insect overwintering strategies. While overwintering beneath the bark of fallen trees, C. c. puniceus larvae may experience low ambient temperatures of around –40°C (and lower) when microhabitat is un-insulated because of low snow cover. Decreasing temperatures in winter are correlated with loss of body water from summer high levels near 2.0 to winter lows near 0.4 mg mg–1 dry mass and concomitant increases in glycerol concentrations (4–6 mol l–1) and thermal hysteresis. Finally, we provide direct evidence that Cucujus from Wiseman, Alaska, survive temperatures to –100°C.

The Siberian timberman Acanthocinus aedilis: a freeze-tolerant beetle with low supercooling points

Larvae of the Siberian timberman beetle Acanthocinus aedilis display a number of unique features, which may have important implications for the field of cold hardiness in general. Their supercooling points are scattered over a wide temperature range, and some individuals have supercooling points in the low range of other longhorn beetles. However, they differ from other longhorn beetles in being tolerant to freezing, and in the frozen state they tolerate cooling to below -37 degrees C. In this respect they also differ from the European timberman beetles, which have moderate supercooling capacity and die if they freeze. The combination of freezing tolerance and low supercooling points is unusual and shows that freezing at a high subzero temperature is not an absolute requirement for freezing tolerance. Like other longhorn beetles, but in contrast to other freeze-tolerant insects, the larvae of the Siberian timberman have a low cuticular water permeability and can thus stay supercooled for long periods without a great water loss. This suggests that a major function of the extracellular ice nucleators of some freeze-tolerant insects may be to prevent intolerable water loss in insects with high cuticular water permeability, rather than to create a protective extracellular freezing as has generally been assumed. The freezing tolerance of the Siberian timberman larvae is likely to be an adaptation to the extreme winter cold of Siberia.

Cold hardiness and postfreeze metabolism in caterpillars of Hypercompe scribonia (Arctiidae: Lepidoptera)

Insects evolve levels of cold hardiness that are sufficient to meet the severity of thermal conditions in their hibernacula. This study examined freeze tolerance and related features in caterpillars of Hypercompe scribonia, which is the overwintering stage for this species, to compare with existing data for more northerly distributed species in Arctiidae that also overwinter as caterpillars. All specimens were collected from western Pennsylvania during mid-October 2004 and 2006 and eventually acclimated to 3 degrees C for > or = 4 wk. All caterpillars initially survived freezing at -3 degrees C, which converted approximately 45% of their body water into ice, and one third of them developed into moths. In contrast, freezing at -10 degrees C was invariably lethal to caterpillars, even in the short term. Body composition (hemolymph osmolality, hemolymph glycerol, body mass, and water content) of caterpillars was stable between the 2 yr, with glycerol accounting for 3-5% of their solute. Thawed caterpillars showed an initial decline in routine aerobic metabolism that persisted through the first 6 h of the recovery period. H. scribonia caterpillars have a level of freeze tolerance that is adequate for hibernaculum conditions in western Pennsylvania; however, it is limited with respect to the tolerance levels of other arctiid caterpillars whose ranges extend northward well into colder regions of North America.

Physiological ecology of overwintering in hatchling turtles

Temperate species of turtles hatch from eggs in late summer. The hatchlings of some species leave their natal nest to hibernate elsewhere on land or under water, whereas others usually remain inside the nest until spring; thus, post-hatching behavior strongly influences the hibernation ecology and physiology of this age class. Little is known about the habitats of and environmental conditions affecting aquatic hibernators, although laboratory studies suggest that chronically hypoxic sites are inhospitable to hatchlings. Field biologists have long been intrigued by the environmental conditions survived by hatchlings using terrestrial hibernacula, especially nests that ultimately serve as winter refugia. Hatchlings are unable to feed, although as metabolism is greatly reduced in hibernation, they are not at risk of starvation. Dehydration and injury from cold are more formidable challenges. Differential tolerances to these stressors may explain variation in hatchling overwintering habits among turtle taxa. Much study has been devoted to the cold-hardiness adaptations exhibited by terrestrial hibernators. All tolerate a degree of chilling, but survival of frost exposure depends on either freeze avoidance through supercooling or freeze tolerance. Freeze avoidance is promoted by behavioral, anatomical, and physiological features that minimize risk of inoculation by ice and ice-nucleating agents. Freeze tolerance is promoted by a complex suite of molecular, biochemical, and physiological responses enabling certain organisms to survive the freezing and thawing of extracellular fluids. Some species apparently can switch between freeze avoidance or freeze tolerance, the mode utilized in a particular instance of chilling depending on prevailing physiological and environmental conditions.

To freeze or not to freeze? An evolutionary perspective on the cold-hardiness strategies of overwintering ectotherms

We address the question of whether freeze-tolerance, freeze-avoidance, or mixed strategy represents the best adaptation for overwintering ectotherms to endure severe winter. To this end, we develop an optimization fitness model that takes into account different physiological parameters such as energetic level, the physiological stress associated with each strategy, and climatic variables. The results show that the freeze-tolerance strategy is strongly dependent on a low sensitivity to the number of freezing days and on a capacity to reduce stress associated with freezing. This strategy is also favored when the initial energetic level is low compared to the freeze-avoidance strategy, which is favored by a high initial energetic level, a low stress associated with the supercooling, and a low sensitivity of this strategy to climatic conditions. From a theoretical point of view, the mixed strategy permits survival in harsher environments but requires the optimization of all parameters involved in both cold-hardiness strategies. However, the mixed strategy shows energetic advantages in variable environments allowing animals to resist the harshest periods. From the model results, it appears that the physiological processes developed by ectotherms to reduce these stresses might be a key to understanding the evolution of the cold-hardiness strategies.

Is the strategy for cold hardiness in insects determined by their water balance? A study on two closely related families of beetles: Cerambycidae and Chrysomelidae

The strategy for cold-hardiness and water balance features of two closely related families of Coleoptera, Cerambycidae and Chrysomelidae, were investigated. Cerambycids were freeze-avoiding with low supercooling points, whereas chrysomelids froze at high temperatures and were tolerant to freezing. Hence, the two families have adopted different strategies for cold-hardiness. Due to their low trans-cuticular water permeability, the cerambycids have low rates of evaporative water loss. Chrysomelids have much higher trans-cuticular water permeability, but freezing brings their body fluids in vapour pressure equilibrium with ice and prevents evaporative water loss. The differences in cold-hardiness strategies and rates of water loss are likely to reflect the water content of the diets of the two families. Cerambycids feed on dry wood with low water content, causing a restrictive water balance. Chrysomelids feed on leaves with high water content and may use evaporation through the cuticle as a route of water excretion. Haemolymph ice nucleators help chrysomelids to freeze at a high temperature and thus to maximize the period they spend in the water saving frozen state. The diet-related differences in water balance may be the reason why the two families have developed different strategies for cold-hardiness.

Cryoprotective dehydration and the resistance to inoculative freezing in the Antarctic midge, Belgica antarctica

During winter, larvae of the Antarctic midge, Belgica antarctica (Diptera, Chironomidae), must endure 7-8 months of continuous subzero temperatures, encasement in a matrix of soil and ice, and severely desiccating conditions. This environment, along with the fact that larvae possess a high rate of water loss and are extremely tolerant of desiccation, may promote the use of cryoprotective dehydration as a strategy for winter survival. This study investigates the capacity of larvae to resist inoculative freezing and undergo cryoprotective dehydration at subzero temperatures. Slow cooling to -3 degrees C in an environment at equilibrium with the vapor pressure of ice reduced larval water content by approximately 40% and depressed the body fluid melting point more than threefold to -2.6 degrees C. This melting point depression was the result of the concentration of existing solutes (i.e. loss of body water) and the de novo synthesis of osmolytes. By day 14 of the subzero exposure, larval survival was still >95%, suggesting larvae have the capacity to undergo cryoprotective dehydration. However, under natural conditions the use of cryoprotective dehydration may be constrained by inoculative freezing as result of the insect's intimate contact with environmental ice. During slow cooling within a substrate of frozen soil, the ability of larvae to resist inoculative freezing and undergo cryoprotective dehydration was dependent upon the moisture content of the soil. As detected by a reduction of larval water content, the percentage of larvae that resisted inoculative freezing increased with decreasing soil moisture. These results suggest that larvae of the Antarctic midge have the capacity to resist inoculative freezing at relatively low soil moisture contents and likely undergo cryoprotective dehydration when exposed to subzero temperatures during the polar winter.

The influence of freeze duration on postfreeze recovery by caterpillars ofPyrrharctia isabella (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae): when is survival enough to qualify as recovery?

The effects of freeze exposure at -4.5 degrees C for as long as 6 weeks on long-term postfreeze survival and body fluid composition were investigated in caterpillars (woolly bears) of the arctiid moth Pyrrharctia isabella. Woolly bears routinely survived the initial postfreeze period with little difference between the 1-week (100%) and 6-week (95%) freeze treatments. Caterpillars in the latter treatment, however, reached the pupal stage almost one half as often as woolly bears in the 1-week freeze treatment. The success rate for adult emergence was not different for pupae from the two treatments (ca. 50%). Woolly bears responded to cold acclimation by accumulating glycerol to levels exceeding 300 mM although this was not augmented by extending the acclimation period to 6 weeks. There was a significant (P<0.05) rise in hemolymph [K+] during the first week of the freeze (23.4-37.8 mM), which then remained stable over the remainder of the 6-week freeze period. Hemolymph [Na+] did not change from the prefreeze level over the course of the freeze treatment. Body water content showed a modest rise during the course of the freeze treatment but the underlying cause for this change was uncertain. Prolonged freeze exposure had a major impact on long-term survival of the woolly bears but this was not reflected by any instability in body fluid composition. Moreover, short-term recovery was not an effective indicator of the tolerance of P. isabella caterpillars to prolonged freezing.

Changes in gut and Malpighian tubule transport during seasonal acclimatization and freezing in the gall flyEurosta solidaginis

Since few studies have examined cold tolerance at the organ level in insects, our primary objective was to characterize the functional responses of the gut and Malpighian tubules (MT) to seasonal acclimatization, chilling and freezing in larvae of the goldenrod gall fly Eurosta solidaginisFitch (Diptera, Tephritidae). From September to December, hemolymph osmolality(455-926 mOsmol kg l-1) and freezing tolerance increased markedly in field-collected larvae. Chlorophenol Red was readily transported into the lumen of the foregut, the posterior portion of the midgut, the ureter, the proximal region of the anterior pair of MT, and entire posterior pair of MT. Ouabain and KCN inhibited transport of Chlorophenol Red in the gut and MT. Transport was readily detected at 0°C and the rate of transport was directly related to temperature. The rate of fluid transport by the MT decreased steadily from a monthly high in September (10.7±0.8 nl min-1 for the anterior pair; 12.7±1.0 nl min-1for the posterior pair) until secretion was no longer detectable in December;this decrease parallels entry into diapause for this species. Even in larvae that died following freezing for 40 days at -20°C, individual organ function was retained to a limited extent. Through the autumn, cholesterol concentrations in the hemolymph increased nearly fourfold. In contrast, the ratio of cholesterol to protein content (nmol mg l-1) in the MT membrane remained relatively constant (22∼24 nmol mg l-1protein) during this period. Freezing of larvae for 20 days at -20°C caused a significant decrease in cholesterol levels in the hemolymph and the MT membranes compared to unfrozen controls. These results suggest that cholesterol plays a role in seasonal cold hardening and freeze tolerance in insects.

To freeze or not to freeze: adaptations for overwintering by hatchlings of the North American painted turtle

Many physiologists believe that hatchling painted turtles (Chrysemys picta) provide a remarkable, and possibly unique, example of `natural freeze-tolerance' in an amniotic vertebrate. However, the concept of natural freeze-tolerance in neonatal painted turtles is based on results from laboratory studies that were not placed in an appropriate ecological context,so the concept is suspect. Indeed, the weight of current evidence indicates that hatchlings overwintering in the field typically withstand exposure to ice and cold by avoiding freezing altogether and that they do so without benefit of an antifreeze to depress the equilibrium freezing point for bodily fluids. As autumn turns to winter, turtles remove active nucleating agents from bodily fluids (including bladder and gut), and their integument becomes a highly efficient barrier to the penetration of ice into body compartments from frozen soil. In the absence of a nucleating agent or a crystal of ice to `catalyze'the transformation of water from liquid to solid, the bodily fluids remain in a supercooled, liquid state. The supercooled animals nonetheless face physiological challenges, most notably an increased reliance on anaerobic metabolism as the circulatory system first is inhibited and then caused to shut down by declining temperature. Alterations in acid/base status resulting from the accumulation of lactic acid may limit survival by supercooled turtles, and sublethal accumulations of lactate may affect behavior of turtles after the ground thaws in the spring. The interactions among temperature,circulatory function, metabolism (both aerobic and anaerobic), acid/base balance and behavior are fertile areas for future research on hatchlings of this model species.

Physiological Ecology of Overwintering in the Hatchling Painted Turtle: Multiple‐Scale Variation in Response to Environmental Stress

We integrated field and laboratory studies in an investigation of water balance, energy use, and mechanisms of cold-hardiness in hatchling painted turtles (Chrysemys picta) indigenous to west-central Nebraska (Chrysemys picta bellii) and northern Indiana (Chrysemys picta marginata) during the winters of 1999-2000 and 2000-2001. We examined 184 nests, 80 of which provided the hatchlings (n=580) and/or samples of soil used in laboratory analyses. Whereas winter 1999-2000 was relatively dry and mild, the following winter was wet and cold; serendipitously, the contrast illuminated a marked plasticity in physiological response to environmental stress. Physiological and cold-hardiness responses of turtles also varied between study locales, largely owing to differences in precipitation and edaphics and the lower prevailing and minimum nest temperatures (to -13.2 degrees C) encountered by Nebraska turtles. In Nebraska, winter mortality occurred within 12.5% (1999-2000) and 42.3% (2000-2001) of the sampled nests; no turtles died in the Indiana nests. Laboratory studies of the mechanisms of cold-hardiness used by hatchling C. picta showed that resistance to inoculative freezing and capacity for freeze tolerance increased as winter approached. However, the level of inoculation resistance strongly depended on the physical characteristics of nest soil, as well as its moisture content, which varied seasonally. Risk of inoculative freezing (and mortality) was greatest in midwinter when nest temperatures were lowest and soil moisture and activity of constituent organic ice nuclei were highest. Water balance in overwintering hatchlings was closely linked to dynamics of precipitation and soil moisture, whereas energy use and the size of the energy reserve available to hatchlings in spring depended on the winter thermal regime. Acute chilling resulted in hyperglycemia and hyperlactemia, which persisted throughout winter; this response may be cryoprotective. Some physiological characteristics and cold-hardiness attributes varied between years, between study sites, among nests at the same site, and among siblings sharing nests. Such variation may reflect adaptive phenotypic plasticity, maternal or paternal influence on an individual's response to environmental challenge, or a combination of these factors. Some evidence suggests that life-history traits, such as clutch size and body size, have been shaped by constraints imposed by the harsh winter environment.

Climatic variability and the evolution of insect freeze tolerance

Insects may survive subzero temperatures by two general strategies: Freeze-tolerant insects withstand the formation of internal ice, while freeze-avoiding insects die upon freezing. While it is widely recognized that these represent alternative strategies to survive low temperatures, and mechanistic understanding of the physical and molecular process of cold tolerance are becoming well elucidated, the reasons why one strategy or the other is adopted remain unclear. Freeze avoidance is clearly basal within the arthropod lineages, and it seems that freeze tolerance has evolved convergently at least six times among the insects (in the Blattaria, Orthoptera, Coleoptera, Hymenoptera, Diptera and Lepidoptera). Of the pterygote insect species whose cold-tolerance strategy has been reported in the literature, 29% (69 of 241 species studied) of those in the Northern Hemisphere, whereas 85 % (11 of 13 species) in the Southern Hemisphere exhibit freeze tolerance. A randomization test indicates that this predominance of freeze tolerance in the Southern Hemisphere is too great to be due to chance, and there is no evidence of a recent publication bias in favour of new reports of freeze-tolerant species. We conclude from this that the specific nature of cold insect habitats in the Southern Hemisphere, which are characterized by oceanic influence and climate variability must lead to strong selection in favour of freeze tolerance in this hemisphere. We envisage two main scenarios where it would prove advantageous for insects to be freeze tolerant. In the first, characteristic of cold continental habitats of the Northern Hemisphere, freeze tolerance allows insects to survive very low temperatures for long periods of time, and to avoid desiccation. These responses tend to be strongly seasonal, and insects in these habitats are only freeze tolerant for the overwintering period. By contrast, in mild and unpredictable environments, characteristic of habitats influenced by the Southern Ocean, freeze tolerance allows insects which habitually have ice nucleators in their guts to survive summer cold snaps, and to take advantage of mild winter periods without the need for extensive seasonal cold hardening. Thus, we conclude that the climates of the two hemispheres have led to the parallel evolution of freeze tolerance for very different reasons, and that this hemispheric difference is symptomatic of many wide-scale disparities in Northern and Southern ecological processes.

Desiccation stress at sub-zero temperatures in polar terrestrial arthropods

Cold tolerant polar terrestrial arthropods have evolved a range of survival strategies which enable them to survive the most extreme environmental conditions (cold and drought) they are likely to encounter. Some species are classified as being freeze tolerant but the majority of those found in the Antarctic survive sub-zero temperatures by avoiding freezing by supercooling. For many arthropods, not just polar species, survival of desiccating conditions is equally important to survival of low temperatures. At sub-zero temperatures freeze avoiding arthropods are susceptible to desiccation and may lose water due to a vapour diffusion gradient between their supercooled body fluids and ice in their surroundings. This process ceases once the body fluids are frozen and so is not a problem for freeze tolerant species. This paper compares five polar arthropods, which have evolved different low temperature survival strategies, and the effects of exposure to sub-zero temperatures on their supercooling points (SCP) and water contents. The Antarctic oribatid mite (Alaskozetes antarcticus) reduced its supercooling point temperature from -6 to -30 degrees C, when exposed to decreasing sub-zero temperatures (cooled from 5 to -10 degrees C over 42 days) with little loss of body water during that period. However, Cryptopygus antarcticus, a springtail which occupies similar habitats in the Antarctic, showed a decrease in both water content and supercooling ability when exposed to the same experimental protocol. Both these Antarctic arthropods have evolved a freeze avoiding survival strategy. The Arctic springtail (Onychiurus arcticus), which is also freeze avoiding, dehydrated (from 2.4 to 0.7 g water g(-1) dry weight) at sub-zero temperatures and its SCP was lowered from c. -3 to below -15 degrees C in direct response to temperature (5 to -5.5 degrees C). In contrast, the freeze tolerant larvae of an Arctic fly (Heleomyza borealis) froze at c. -7 degrees C with little change in water content or SCP during further cold exposure and survived frozen to -60 degrees C. The partially freeze tolerant sub-Antarctic beetle Hydromedion sparsutum froze at c. -2 degrees C and is known to survive frozen to -8 degrees C. During the sub-zero temperature treatment, its water content reduced until it froze and then remained constant. The survival strategies of such freeze tolerant and freeze avoiding arthropods are discussed in relation to desiccation at sub-zero temperatures and the evolution of strategies of cold tolerance.

Natural freeze-tolerance in hatchling painted turtles?

Hatchlings of the North American painted turtle (Family Emydidae: Chrysemys picta) typically spend their first winter of life inside a shallow, subterranean hibernaculum (the natal nest) where life-threatening conditions of ice and cold commonly occur. Although a popular opinion holds that neonates exploit a tolerance for freezing to survive the rigors of winter, hatchlings are more likely to withstand exposure to ice and cold by avoiding freezing altogether-and to do so without the benefit of an antifreeze. In the interval between hatching by turtles in late summer and the onset of wintery weather in November or December, the integument of the animals becomes highly resistant to the penetration of ice into body compartments from surrounding soil, and the turtles also purge their bodies of catalysts for the formation of ice. These two adjustments, taken together, enable the animals to supercool to temperatures below those that they routinely experience in nature. However, cardiac function in hatchlings is diminished at subzero temperatures, thereby compromising the delivery of oxygen to peripheral tissues and eliciting an increase in reliance by those tissues on anaerobic metabolism for the provision of ATP. The resulting increase in production of lactic acid may disrupt acid/base balance and lead to death even in animals that remain unfrozen. Although an ability to undergo supercooling may be key to survival by overwintering turtles in northerly populations, a similar capacity to resist inoculation and undergo supercooling characterizes animals from a population near the southern limit of distribution, where winters are relatively benign. Thus, the suite of characters enabling hatchlings to withstand exposure to ice and cold may have been acquired prior to the northward dispersal of the species at the end of the Pleistocene, and the characters may not have originated as adaptations specifically to the challenges of winter.

Physiological and ecological significance of biological ice nucleators

When a pure water sample is cooled it can remain in the liquid state at temperatures well below its melting point (0 degrees C). The initiation of the transition from the liquid state to ice is called nucleation. Substances that facilitate this transition so that it takes place at a relatively high sub-zero temperature are called ice nucleators. Many living organisms produce ice nucleators. In some cases, plausible reasons for their production have been suggested. In bacteria, they could induce frost damage to their hosts, giving the bacteria access to nutrients. In freeze-tolerant animals, it has been suggested that ice nucleators help to control the ice formation so that it is tolerable to the animal. Such ice nucleators can be called adaptive ice nucleators. There are, however, also examples of ice nucleators in living organisms where the adaptive value is difficult to understand. These ice nucleators might be structures with functions other than facilitating ice formation. These structures might be called incidental ice nucleators.

Physiological variation in insects: large-scale patterns and their implications

In this paper we demonstrate how broad scale comparative physiology has an important role to play in informing a variety of assumptions made in macroecology. We do so by examining large-scale geographic variation in insect development, thermal tolerance and metabolic rate. From these studies, and those from the literature on insect water loss and thermoregulation, we show that there is often a bias to the geographic extent of available empirical data. Studies of cold hardiness are most usually undertaken at high latitudes, while investigations of upper thermal tolerances and water loss are most common in warm arid regions. Likewise, we demonstrate that much variation in insect physiological tolerances is partitioned at higher taxonomic levels, which has important implications for comparative physiology. Intriguingly, data on the full range of variables we review are available for only three species. We also show that, despite its importance, body size is regularly reported in only some kinds of investigations (metabolic rate, water loss rate), whereas in others (upper lethal temperature, cold hardiness, development) this variable is often ignored. In short, although large-scale comparative physiology can contribute considerable understanding to both physiology and ecology, there is much that remains to be done.

Energy and water conservation in frozen vs. supercooled larvae of the goldenrod gall fly, Eurosta solidaginis (fitch) (Diptera: Tephritidae)

Insects that tolerate severe cold during winter may either supercool or tolerate ice forming within the tissues of the body. To compare the relative advantages of freezing and supercooling, we measured rates of CO(2) production and water loss in frozen and supercooled goldenrod gall fly larvae (Eurosta solidaginis). As an important first step, we measured the time required for ice content and metabolic rate to stabilize upon freezing. Ice content stabilized after only three hours of freezing at -5 degrees C, whereas CO(2) production required 12 hours to stabilize. Subsequent experiments found that freezing greatly reduced both water loss and metabolic rate. Comparisons of supercooled and frozen larvae at -5 degrees C indicated that CO(2) production fell 47% with freezing and water loss decreased 35%. As temperature decreased to -10 and -15 degrees C, CO(2) production fell exponentially and was no longer detectable at -20 degrees C with our measurement system. Our results demonstrate that freezing significantly reduces energy consumption during the winter and may therefore improve winter survival and spring fecundity. The advantages of freezing over supercooling would drive selection toward insect freeze tolerance and also toward higher supercooling points to increase the duration of freezing each winter.

Desiccation resistance in pre-diapause, diapause and post-diapause larvae of Choristoneura fumiferana (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae)

Desiccation resistance was examined in pre-diapause, diapause and post-diapause larvae of the spruce budworm, Choristoneura fumiferana (Clemens), in terms of passive water evaporation under three desiccation conditions: freeze-drying, desiccant-drying at 2 degrees C and desiccant-drying at 18 degrees C. Diapausing second instar larvae and post-diapause non-feeding second instar larvae showed strongest desiccation resistance: a significant amount of water was retained after repeated drying under desiccating conditions, while pre-diapause first instar larvae and post-diapause feeding second instar larvae lost almost all their water content after one or two drying cycles. A hibernaculum covering had no effect on water evaporation. While dead larvae tended to lose significantly more water than their living counterparts, particularly among first instar larvae, such an impact was much weaker among diapausing second instar larvae. Desiccation resistance was lost when post-diapause second instar larvae were allowed access to water while the level of desiccation resistance was maintained or enhanced when the larvae did not have access to water. These results are discussed in the context of overwintering ecology of the species and possible mechanisms for the desiccation resistance are also discussed.

Dehydration in dormant insects

Many of the mechanisms used by active insects to maintain water balance are not available to dormant individuals. Physiological and biochemical mechanisms of dehydration tolerance and resistance in dormant insects and some other invertebrates are reviewed, as well as linkages of dehydration with energy use and metabolism, with cold hardiness, and with diapause. Many dormant insects combine several striking adaptations to maintain water balance that-in addition to habitat choice-may include especially reduction of body water content, decreased cuticular permeability, absorption of water vapour, and tolerance of low body water levels. Many such features require energy and hence that metabolism, albeit much reduced, continues during dormancy. Four types of progressively dehydrated states are recognized: water is managed internally by solute or ion transport; relatively high concentrations of solutes modify the behaviour of water in solutions; still higher concentrations of certain carbohydrates lead to plasticized rubbers or glasses with very slow molecular kinetics; and anhydrobiosis eliminates metabolism.

Water relations of the freeze-tolerant New Zealand alpine cockroach Celatoblatta quinquemaculata (Dictyoptera: Blattidae)

Celatoblatta quinquemaculata is a freeze-tolerant alpine cockroach found on the Rock and Pillar Range, Central Otago, New Zealand. This study investigated seasonal changes in water content, as well as desiccation tolerance, and the relationship between desiccation and cold tolerance. Whole body water contents from field-fresh cockroaches collected over a 20 month period ranged from 69.9+/-1.0% fresh weight (FW) in February 1998 to 60.3+/-1.1% FW in July 1998. Water contents were significantly lower in winter than summer, and were positively correlated to microhabitat temperatures over the week preceding collection. Cockroaches survived the loss of up to 82% (mean: 56.7%+/-10.2) of their initial body water content, and the amount of water loss sustained was not dependent on the rate of water loss. Cockroaches did not suffer further mortality due to desiccation after removal to 99% relative humidity, but only regained lost water if given access to liquid water. Experimental dehydration did not enhance freeze-tolerance, but did slightly lower the supercooling point. It is concluded that reduction of body water content in winter may be a consequence of cold hardening responses, but desiccation does not constitute the cold hardening mechanism itself.

Inoculative freezing by environmental ice nuclei in the freeze-tolerant wood frog, Rana sylvatica

Efficacy of inoculative freezing by ice nuclei in a simulated winter environment was studied in the wood frog (Rana sylvatica), a freeze-tolerant species that overwinters on the forest floor beneath organic detritus. Adult frogs were confined to plastic canisters and cooled to -2 degrees C over 24 hr with their ventral skin in contact with substrate (humic soil hydrated to 40, 10, or 5%, or soil/peat mixture hydrated to 20 or 10%, w/w), or their dorsal skin in contact with damp leaf mould. Whereas only 20% of control frogs cooled in dry, plastic canisters froze, freezing occurred in nearly all (98%) frogs contacting soil or leaf mould. Inoculation was briefly delayed in frogs exposed to drier substrates. Frogs exposed to an unfreezable substrate (humic soil, 5% moisture) themselves froze, apparently due to the action of constituent nuclei which commonly occur in natural materials. Although the surface over which inoculation can occur is greater in larger frogs, inoculation susceptibility was not correlated with body mass in our frogs (mean +/- SE body mass = 14.0 +/- 0.2 g; range, 9.8-17.8 g). We conclude that the high susceptibility to inoculative freezing in R. sylvatica, which is conferred by its moist, highly permeable integument, promotes freeze tolerance by ensuring that inoculation commences at relatively high temperatures.

Interactions between desiccation resistance, host-plant contact and the thermal biology of a leaf-dwelling sub-antarctic caterpillar, Embryonopsis halticella (Lepidoptera: Yponomeutidae)

During May 1997 thermal tolerance, supercooling point (SCP), low and high temperature survival, and desiccation resistance were examined in field-fresh Embryonopsis halticella Eaton larvae from Marion Island. SCPs were also examined in acclimated larvae, larvae starved for seven days, larvae within their leaf mines, and in larvae exposed to ice crystals. Field-fresh larvae had a critical minimum temperature (CT(Min)) and critical maximum temperature (CT(Max)) of 0 degrees C and 39.7 degrees C, respectively. Mean SCP of field-fresh caterpillars was -20.5 degrees C and this did not change with starvation. Field-fresh larvae did not survive freezing and their lower lethal temperatures (70% mortality below -21 degrees C) and survival of exposure to constant low temperatures (100% mortality after 12hrs at -19 degrees C) indicated that they are moderately chill tolerant. SCP frequency distributions were unimodal for field-fresh larvae, but became bimodal at higher acclimation temperatures. Contact with ice-crystals caused an increase in SCP (-6.5 degrees C), but contact with the host plant had less of an effect at higher subzero temperatures. It appears that the remarkable desiccation resistance of the larvae is selected for by the absence of a boundary layer surrounding their host plant, caused by constant high winds. This suggests that the low SCPs of E. halticella larvae may have evolved as a consequence of pronounced desiccation resistance.

Cold hardiness, supercooling ability and causes of low-temperature mortality in the soft tick, Argas reflexus, and the hard tick, Ixodes ricinus (Acari: Ixodoidea) from Central Europe

Seasonal supercooling points (SCPs=temperature of crystallization) and cold hardiness were investigated in the indigenous hard tick, I. ricinus, and in A. reflexus, a soft tick introduced to Central Europe from the South. Both species proved to be freeze-susceptible as well as highly susceptible to inoculative freezing. None of the postembryonic developmental stages of either species showed any distinct seasonal pattern of SCP. Unexpectedly, the introduced A. reflexus exhibited a distinctly higher degree of cold hardiness in terms of lower lethal temperature (LT(50): 24h exposure) as well as lethal time (T(50): time of survival at -10.1 degrees C) than I. ricinus. Engorged I. ricinus larvae as well as engorged summer acclimatized A. reflexus larvae showed some mortality at temperatures well above the SCP. This mortality was generally expressed as a failure of the following stage to eclose properly. A 10-day cold acclimation at +3 degrees C eliminated that kind of mortality in summer acclimatized A. reflexus larvae, but not in I. ricinus larvae. It was frequently observed that freezing of ticks resulted-possibly via leakage from the midgut-in a subsequent reddish brown discoloration of the ticks after thawing. Taking into account that discoloration was an indication of previous freezing, it was concluded, that after long-term exposure (for >/=30 days) at -10.1 degrees C, a temperature well above the SCP, some tick mortality could be observed that was not caused by previous freezing. Weighing experiments clearly demonstrated, that the level of dehydration was not critical for survival of A. reflexus during long-term cold exposure, even at low RH. This indicates, that cold-related factors other than freezing and dehydration were detrimental to this species.