Where Do Bugs Go In The Winter?

As the temperatures drop outside, I have noticed more bugs trying to make our home their "winter home". No, it's not a coincidence if you start to see more bugs around your house starting in the fall. These bugs are looking for a place to stay warm over these freezing cold months that are considered winter. I found out that bugs have many different ways of surviving the winter.

Some insects will actually migrate (fly or move) to warmer climates. One insect that migrates, is the Monarch Butterfly. This butterfly will actually fly about 2,000 miles from the areas that it lives in the summer to the areas it lives in the winter time! That's one LONG journey! Other insects also migrate for the winter, such as a few other butterflies and some dragonflies.

Other insects like to stick together in order to benefit from the body heat from their other insect friends. Honeybees like to huddle together so they can keep warm when it gets colder. Can you imagine the buzzing sound that huddle would make? Ants and termites like to dig way deep down into the ground to get below the freeze line. Because there are so many of them, they can stay warm and they have enough food to last them throughout the winter months. I wonder how they store all that food?

One of the most interesting things I found out is that some insects will actually use a type of "antifreeze" that their bodies make in order to stay alive throughout the winter. It's not the type of antifreeze a person uses in a car, but it works in a similar way! The insects actually make glycerol, which is a substance that helps to make it harder for the fluids surrounding the cells to freeze. That way the insect itself doesn't freeze completely through. A snow flea produces this antifreeze, along with certain beetles and caterpillars.

The last two ways that bugs survive the winter are types of a hibernation of sorts. One type is called Torpor which is a way of sleeping that makes the insect completely unable to move. This is temporary and will last while temperatures are coldest at night and as the day warms up, the insect comes out of torpor. The other type is called Diapause. During diapause, the insect can stay completely still for a long period of time. That's what makes it different from Torpor. During diapause, insects can be in any stage of their development. Some insects may be in the larvae stage, while others are full-grown adults!  The Praying Mantis and the Wooly Bear Caterpillars use diapause while a type of cricket that lives in New Zealand will use torpor. Either way, the insects get to sleep right through the cold! I wish I could do that sometimes!

I guess that there are more ways for bugs to survive the winter than to just come into my house! While we may have friends over at times during the winter, I most definitely have NOT sent out invitations to the insects! So they will need to find another place to stay.

Cheryl

Sources: About.com - http://insects.about.com/od/adaptations/p/wintersurvival.htm
nytimes.com - http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/19/science/19creatures.html?_r=0