Summary
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1.
Larval cultures of Sarcophaga argyrostoma, “preconditioned” for a low incidence of pupal diapause by embryonic exposure to continuous light, were transferred from sequences of diapause-inducing long nights into terminal sequences of either diapause-averting short nights or darkness. Conversely, other groups preconditioned for a high incidence of diapause by embryonic exposure to long nights were transferred from short nights into terminal long nights or darkness.
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2.
The inductive effects of long nights (diapause) and short nights (non-diapause) were accumulated during the larval sensitive period which continued until puparium formation. Since the larvae in any one group formed puparia over a number of days it follows that late pupariaters experienced a greater number of inductive light cycles (or days in DD) than those that pupariated early.
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3.
Analysis of diapause incidence in cultures transferred from long nights to DD at different temperatures, as a function of the day of pupariation, showed that the daily increase in diapause was a temperature-compensated process beginning after 9–10 cycles and reaching 10% after about 15 cycles. Cultures transferred from a series of short nights into DD at different temperature showed no evidence of temperature-compensation.
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4.
The results are interpreted in terms of the external coincidence model for photoperiodic time measurement.
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Saunders, D.S. The photoperiodic clock and “counter” in Sarcophaga argyrostoma: experimental evidence consistent with “external coincidence” in insect photoperiodism. J Comp Physiol A 170, 121–127 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00190406
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00190406