Western University Scholarship@Western Biology Publications Biology Department 10-1-2015 An invitation to measure insect cold tolerance: Methods, approaches, and workflow. Brent J Sinclair
[email protected] Litza E Coello Alvarado Laura V Ferguson Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/biologypub Part of the Biology Commons Citation of this paper: Sinclair, Brent J; Coello Alvarado, Litza E; and Ferguson, Laura V, "An invitation to measure insect cold tolerance: Methods, approaches, and workflow." (2015). Biology Publications. 68. https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/biologypub/68 1 REVIEW 2 3 An invitation to measure insect cold tolerance: methods, approaches, and 4 workflow 5 Brent J. Sinclair*, Litza E. Coello Alvarado & Laura V. Ferguson 6 Department of Biology, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada 7 8 Address for correspondence: Dept. Biology, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, 9 N6A 5B7, Canada 10 Email:
[email protected]; tel: 519-661-2111 x83138; fax: 519-661-3935 11 12 1 1 2 13 Abstract 14 Insect performance is limited by the temperature of the environment, and in temperate, 15 polar, and alpine regions, the majority of insects must face the challenge of exposure to low 16 temperatures. The physiological response to cold exposure shapes the ability of insects to 17 survive and thrive in these environments, and can be measured, without great technical 18 difficulty, for both basic and applied research. For example, understanding insect cold 19 tolerance allows us to predict the establishment and spread of insect pests and biological 20 control agents. Additionally, the discipline provides the tools for drawing physiological 21 comparisons among groups in wider studies that may not be focused primarily on the 22 ability of insects to survive the cold.