Another interesting question comes to AskBN:
"Where do all the creepy crawlies go when winter comes? You see more inside the house, but where do most end up?"
As the September days are bringing cooler temperatures, this is one question our arthropod friends will be asking themselves. As luck would have it, entomology is one area in which I'm particularly an expert.
We can discuss the general methods bugs use, and we'll also look at the specific examples of some that we're most familiar with here in Canada. There are almost as many survival methods as there are varieties of crawling-thing, so there's no chance that I'm going to touch them all. I'll try to summarize them, though, and we'll basically break it down into
cold-avoidance and
cold-tolerance. Different species use either one of these measures, or a combination of both.
There are several methods of avoidance. The most apparent method is migration, for which we have the example of the
Monarch Butterfly - Insects simply move to areas of warmer climate. Many
beetles survive the winter as adults by finding a sheltered area (such as beneath logs, leaves, etc) that aren't exposed to the harsh environment to hibernate. It's not so much the cold that is bad for them, as it is the repetitive variation of conditions (freezing and thawing). As you mentioned, houses and other structures are excellent locations to provide this security, and many lie dormant in the nooks and crannies of your house (such as underneath the siding of your house), without ever walking around inside where you'll notice them.
Ladybugs (lady beetles, ladybirds, or whatever you wish to call them) hibernate as adults in this manner.
Ants will close off the entrance to the nest, become...
[ Continued ]
