the mechanisms of diapause are quite variable even within species groups (e.g., Hand et al. 2016).
Interesting. :) When I said “I tend to assume that insects in diapause have relatively little subjective experience”, I had in mind the prototypical case of diapause where metabolism dramatically decreases.
I see that Hand et al. (2016) make the point that diapause doesn’t always imply reduced metabolism: “Diapause [...] may or may not involve a substantial depression of metabolism” and “Diapause [...] depending on the species, can also be accompanied by depression of metabolism, essential for conserving energy reserves.”
When I was reading about diapause, most of the sources suggested that metabolism was reduced, so I assumed that was the usual case. For example: “During diapause an insect’s metabolic rate drops to one tenth or less”.
Interesting. :) When I said “I tend to assume that insects in diapause have relatively little subjective experience”, I had in mind the prototypical case of diapause where metabolism dramatically decreases.
I see that Hand et al. (2016) make the point that diapause doesn’t always imply reduced metabolism: “Diapause [...] may or may not involve a substantial depression of metabolism” and “Diapause [...] depending on the species, can also be accompanied by depression of metabolism, essential for conserving energy reserves.”
When I was reading about diapause, most of the sources suggested that metabolism was reduced, so I assumed that was the usual case. For example: “During diapause an insect’s metabolic rate drops to one tenth or less”.