Low temperature biology of insects

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Low temperatures, especially in winter, are an important influence on the population biology and distribution of insects.  The focus of this research is to understand how insects survive (and thrive!) at low temperatures.  We will study the ways in which overwintering conditions affect insects at sites in British Columbia and southwestern Ontario, with a long term goal of predicting how insects will respond to changing winter conditions with climate change.  In particular, the research will focus on how the fluctuations in temperature seen in the real world, for example the repeated freeze-thaw cycles common in SW Ontario, affect insect survival and reproduction.  We will not only look at survival mechanisms and strategies, but also measure metabolism and energy reserves both in the lab and the field, and link our work to observed climate and to collaborators investigating population cycles and northern range limits in insects.  A second part of the program will investigate the biochemical and molecular mechanisms that determine when and why insects are paralyzed at low temperatures (a state called chill coma).  Our research will use a combination of laboratory model insects (including Drosophila fruit flies and Tribolium flour beetles), wild insects (including swallowtail butterflies) and abundant insect pests like the Colorado potato beetle.