Editing Diapause (section)

{{short description|Response delay in animal dormancy}}
{{Dormancy}}
In animal [[dormancy]], '''diapause''' is the delay in development in response to regular and recurring periods of adverse environmental conditions.<ref>The Insects; Structure and Function, 4th Edition. R.F. Chapman, Cambridge University Press, 1998. {{ISBN|0-521-57048-4}}, p 403.</ref><ref name="Tauber">Tauber, M.J., Tauber, C.A., Masaki, S. (1986) ''Seasonal Adaptations of Insects''. Oxford University Press{{page needed|date=August 2020}}</ref> It is a [[physiological]] state with very specific initiating and inhibiting conditions. The mechanism is a means of surviving predictable, unfavorable environmental conditions, such as temperature extremes, drought, or reduced food availability. Diapause is observed in all the life stages of [[arthropod]]s, especially [[insect]]s. 

Activity levels of diapausing stages can vary considerably among species. Diapause may occur in a completely immobile stage, such as the [[pupae]] and eggs, or it may occur in very active stages that undergo extensive migrations, such as the adult [[monarch butterfly]], ''Danaus plexippus''. In cases where the insect remains active, feeding is reduced and reproductive development is slowed or halted.

[[Embryonic diapause]], a somewhat similar phenomenon, occurs in over 130 species of mammals, possibly even in humans,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Fenelon |first1=Jane C.|last2=Renfree |first2=Marilyn B.|date=2017-09-15 |title=The enigma of embryonic diapause |journal=Development |volume=144 |issue=18 |pages=3199–3210 |doi=10.1242/dev.148213 |issn=1477-9129 |pmid=28928280 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mohl |first=D |date=1997-03-07 |title=mTOR activity paces human blastocyst stage developmental progression |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s0092-8674(00)91910-x |journal=Cell |volume=88 |issue=5 |pages=675–684 |doi=10.1016/s0092-8674(00)91910-x |doi-broken-date=2024-11-18 |issn=0092-8674|url-access=subscription }}</ref> and in the [[embryo]]s of many of the [[oviparity|oviparous]] [[species]] of fish in the order [[Cyprinodontiformes]].<ref>{{cite journal |pmid=9254916 |title=A molecular phylogeny for aplocheiloid fishes (Atherinomorpha, Cyprinodontiformes): the role of vicariance and the origins of annualism |author=Glen E. Collier |author2=William J. Murphy |date= August 1997 |quote=Annual aplocheiloid killifish embryos possess a rare ability among vertebrates to enter stages of developmental arrest (diapause) when subjected to adverse environmental conditions. |volume=14 |issue=8 |journal=Mol. Biol. Evol. |pages=790–9 |doi=10.1093/oxfordjournals.molbev.a025819|doi-access=free }}</ref>