How do insects survive winter in these cold places?
Just like other animals, insects survive winter in the Rocky Mountains by choosing one of several strategies. Here are 7 things insects do to survive the cold winter months.
For most of the year I feel like the insects are everywhere. I especially notice the mosquitos in the mountains when the snow melts and they are biting. But, I don’t see many insects in winter because they may just not be there. Similar to other animals in the Rocky Mountains they have different strategies to survive winter. Do you know all of these different strategies that insects choose?
Some Insects Survive Winter By Migrating
Some insects choose to leave the Rocky Mountains completely and go to a warmer area. The best example of this is a Monarch butterfly, which migrates south to Mexico.
The Mourning Cloak is rare for a butterfly in that it spends winter in its adult form.
Some Insects Survive Winter As Adults By Resting
Some insects choose to go into a kind of hibernation, called diapause, to survive the cold winter. For example, the Mourning Cloak butterfly survives as an adult and then is one of the first butterflies to be seen in the spring. Another insect that survives winter in the adult form is a female mosquito.
Social Insects Huddle Together To Stay Warm
Other adults choose to gather in huge numbers and huddle together to stay warm. The kinds that do this are social insects such as ants, termites, and ladybugs.
Many Insects Survive Winter In A Non-Adult Form
If you remember, all insects undergo metamorphosis. This means that insects change during their lifecycle. In general, insects begin as an egg, change to a larva or nymph then to an adult and back to an egg. During the winter these immature insects are not developing, but are simply in a resting phase until the weather warms up.
A wooly bear caterpillar hides out during winter.
Some Insects Survive Winter As A Larvae
Many insects survive winter in their larvae form. For example, the wooly bear caterpillar hides under leaf litter or under bark.
Some Insects Survive Winter As A Nymph
Some aquatic insects spend the winter as nymphs (the larva form of aquatic insects). The nymphs are under water at the bottom of lakes and rivers. They are still active, eating and growing. Examples of these insects are stonefly, caddisflies, and mayflies.
Some Insects Survive Winter As An Egg
Some insects simply lay eggs and the adults die off. These insects survive as eggs, which then hatch in the spring. One of the insects that chooses this strategy is the Praying Mantis.
Some Insects Survive Winter As A Pupae
Some moths go into a pupal form and stay in the pupa inside of their cocoon until the weather warms up. To remind you, here is a little information on the moth lifecycle.
For more information, you can read about the common insects of the Rocky Mountains here.