Summary
Pupal diapause ofPieris brassicae can be terminated experimentally by the sole action of photoperiod. Curves gave evidence of similar effect of photoperiod within a broad range of regimes in both diapause induction and termination. However, they showed opposite responses to ‘ultra-short ’ and ‘ultra-long’ days and to continuous light and darkness. In diapause termination, the critical daylength is longer than in diapause induction by about 1.20 h.
Results of night interruption experiments (asymmetrical skeleton photoperiods) provided the first reliable evidence of the involvement of a particular light-sensitive phase in photoperiodic diapause termination. A light pulse delivered at this moment elicited a complete long-day effect (i.e. diapause termination). Only one single point of long-day effect (lying in the early night) was disclosed in diapause termination whereas two points (A and B) characterize diapause induction in this species. Results of experimental designs where the period of the photoperiodic cycles differed from 24 h indicated that photoperiodic clock likely makes a nightlength measurement in both diapause induction and termination. This is discussed in relation to the formal properties of the clock, especially those derived from the time distribution of points of long-day effect.
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Brunnarius, J., Dumortier, B. Existence of a light-sensitive phase in the photoperiodic termination of diapause inPieris brassicae L. (Insecta:Lepidoptera) and comparison with diapause induction. J. Comp. Physiol. 155, 161–169 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00612634
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00612634