As a way to escape from adverse conditions, many zooplankton populations produce diapausing eggs that accumulate in the sediments and hatch when suitable environmental conditions are restored. While buried in the sediment, diapausing eggs may be affected by several processes (i.e., production, hatching, deterioration, and loss). We present a simple mathematical model for the dynamics of diapaus...

In this study of the mosquito, Culex pipiens, we examined the impact of multiple bouts of dehydration and rehydration on survival, depletion of metabolic reserves and egg production in both non-diapausing and diapausing females. Mosquitoes provided with access to sugar during rehydration survived longer than those allowed to rehydrate without sugar, and their survival was similar to that of mos...

The tadpole shrimp, Triops cancriformis, is a freshwater crustacean listed as endangered in the UK and Europe living in ephemeral pools. Populations are threatened by habitat destruction due to land development for agriculture and increased urbanisation. Despite this, there is a lack of efficient methods for discovering and monitoring populations. Established macroinvertebrate monitoring method...

Zooplankton demographics operate over multiple time scales corresponding to pelagic parthenogenetic generations, an overwintering stage, and an ‘‘egg bank.’’ Comparisons of pelagic birth and death rates with seasonal diapausing egg production provide insights into local species persistence. The spiny cladoceran (Bythotrephes) possesses morphological adaptations (spines and thick-walled diapausi...

considering the crucial importance of daphnia species in aquaculture, in particular for artificially- cultured sturgeon fry, a comprehensive study on the hatching requirements of their diapausing eggs seemed to be inevitable in order to obtain the ideal hatching technique. to do so, the ephippial eggs were collected from live food ponds in the cultivation and breeding centre of gorgan and after...

The biodiversity of Mediterranean freshwater bodies is among the most threatened worldwide; therefore, its accurate estimation is an urgent issue. However, traditional methods are likely to underestimate freshwater zooplankton biodiversity due to its high species seasonality and cryptic diversity. We test the value of applying DNA barcoding to diapausing egg banks, in combination with the creat...

The Asian tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus, is a highly invasive mosquito species that transmits chikungunya and dengue. This species overwinters as diapausing eggs in temperate climates. Early diapause termination may be a beneficial strategy for winter mosquito control; however, a mechanism to terminate the diapause process using chemicals is not known. We tested the hypothesis that a hormona...

Zooplankton egg banks are the accumulation of diapausing embryos of planktonic animals buried in the sediments of many aquatic ecosystems. These eggs, which are analogous life history stages to the seeds of many plants, can survive in a ready-to-hatch state for periods ranging from a few years to greater than a century. Their presence in ponds, lakes and near-shore marine environments has subst...

Diapause in overwintering adult female Culex pipiens mosquitoes plays an important role in the transmission of West Nile and other encephalitis-inducing flaviviruses. To investigate the dynamic metabolic processes that control Cx. pipiens diapause, we used radioactive tracer techniques with [(14)C]-glucose to investigate the metabolic fate and flux of glucose in adult mosquitoes reared under di...