Insect performance is limited by the temperature of the environment, and in temperate, polar,
and alpine regions, the majority of insects must face the challenge of exposure to low …

Cold tolerance is important in defining the distribution of insects. Here, we review the
principal physiological mechanisms underlying homeostatic failure during cold exposure in …

Thermal tolerance may limit and therefore predict ectotherm geographic distributions.
However, which of the many metrics of thermal tolerance best predict distribution is often …

Most multicellular organisms are freeze sensitive, but the ability to survive freezing of the
extracellular fluids evolved in several vertebrate ectotherms, some plants, and many insects …

The success of insects is linked to their impressive tolerance to environmental stress, but
little is known about how such responses are mediated by the neuroendocrine system. Here …

Many insects, including Drosophila, succumb to the physiological effects of chilling at
temperatures well above those causing freezing. Low temperature causes a loss of …

At low temperature many insects lose extracellular ion homeostasis and the capacity to
mitigate homeostatic imbalance determines their cold tolerance. Extracellular homeostasis …

Insects enter chill coma, a reversible state of paralysis, at temperatures below their critical
thermal minimum (CTmin), and the time required for an insect to recover after a cold …

Rapid cold hardening (RCH) is a type of phenotypic plasticity that allows ectotherms to
quickly enhance cold tolerance in response to brief chilling (lasting minutes to hours). In this …

When insects are cooled, they initially lose their ability to perform coordinated movements at
their critical thermal minima (CT min). At a slightly lower temperature, they enter a state of …