How Do Insects Survive the Winter?
Birds fly south, humans bundle up, but what do insects do to survive the winter? From creating antifreeze-like alcohols to burrowing in the ground, bugs have a ...
==========
Unlike us lucky endotherms, insects can’t regulate their own body temperatures. They’re at the mercy of their environment. So when the cold winter arrives, how do they keep from freezing? They basically have three choices: They can leave for warmer places, they can wait it out, or they can kick the bucket. Just like some birds, there are a few insects, like dragonflies or butterflies, fly south for the winter. The most famous of these has got to be the monarch butterfly. There’s a population that normally lives in the northern U.S. and Canada, but spends the winter in the balmy mountain forests of Mexico. Of course, many insects have shorter lives than birds. So, a special migratory generation of the monarchs flies south thousands of miles to Mexico without reproducing, but it t...
==========
Unlike us lucky endotherms, insects can’t regulate their own body temperatures. They’re at the mercy of their environment. So when the cold winter arrives, how do they keep from freezing? They basically have three choices: They can leave for warmer places, they can wait it out, or they can kick the bucket. Just like some birds, there are a few insects, like dragonflies or butterflies, fly south for the winter. The most famous of these has got to be the monarch butterfly. There’s a population that normally lives in the northern U.S. and Canada, but spends the winter in the balmy mountain forests of Mexico. Of course, many insects have shorter lives than birds. So, a special migratory generation of the monarchs flies south thousands of miles to Mexico without reproducing, but it t...
