Insects winter survival strategies include a range of choices from resting to migrating. Here are the main strategies that insects choose to survive the cold Rocky Mountain winters.
During the summer I see insects and bugs everywhere in the natural world. There are bugs flying in the air, crawling on the ground, and in water. Springtime in the Rockies gets a bit crazy with the mosquitoes. However, during the winter I just don’t see many insects around. I wonder what happens to all of those insects during the wintertime.
Insects Are Cold Blooded
Like snakes and lizards, insects are cold-blooded, which means they get their body temperature from their surrounding environment. This means that in the winter when it is very cold their body temperature drops very low. This makes it very hard for the bugs to do anything since they can’t be active when they are so cold.
Insects Winter Survival Strategies
Similar to how plants and mammals have different strategies to survive the winter, insects have a few general strategies. Here are the main ways they survive the winter in the Rocky Mountains:
MIGRATE
Some insects, like the Monarch Butterfly simply leave the Rockies and head to warmer areas. Migration is a more common winter survival strategy for larger animals, such as mammals than for insects. For most insects migration is just not a realistic possibility because they are too small to travel far distances.
A mass of ladybugs in tree bark during winter.
HUDDLE TOGETHER FOR WARMTH
Some bugs huddle together in huge masses in order to stay warm. These include ants, termites, and ladybugs.
REST – DIAPAUSE
Most bugs go into something called diapause, which is similar to hibernation for mammals. They replace the water in their bodies with glycerol, something that does not freeze as easily. This is like they put an anti-freeze in their body, which is the same thing we put in are car engines to keep them from freezing.
During diapause there is no development happening. In other words, it is as if bugs simply stop growing until the conditions outside are more favorable.
Many of the bugs that go into diapause are not adults, but are eggs and pupae. They are simply waiting for the cold winter to be over, so that they can turn into adults in the springtime.
Gall caused by a wasp.
GALLS
A few bugs make a gall, which is a swelling on a branch or twig of a plant. The bug bites the plant and causes a growth of the plant to grow around them. This growth protects them during the cold winter.