Diapause development, diapause termination and the end of diapause

Abstract

A workshop is an occasion to raise also "nonproductive" questions as stimuli for discussion between specialists from different fields: (1) What do we know about the processes leading to the end of diapause, and how can we discriminate this diapause end? (2) Is the diapause "normally" completed also when the "natural" diapause development is "substituted" by (re)activation? It seems premature to search for criteria to directly monitor diapause end. We have rely on the events of post-diapause development which can be recorded only after exposure to permissive environmental conditions. It should be defined clearly, in a study, whether the end of diapause is identified with the resumption of covert developmental petential or with the resumption of overt development. The crucial change to developmental potential should be recognized although it is not directly measurable. The (re)activated adults can differ from adults that completed diapause development by decreased fecundity and/or persistence of photoperiodic response.