A study was conducted on the changes of glycerol, hemolymph proteins, glucogen and fat content of diapause and non-diapause pupae of Helicoverpa assulta.
To survive the cold, some insects enter a state called diapause, which is their version of hibernation, and will not become active again until warm weather returns.
There, these adult insects enter a kind of hibernation called diapause, thanks to hormones triggered by the shorter days and cooler temperatures of autumn.
So the African killifish species has evolved to have its embryos enter diapause so that they survive the extreme dryness that follows these rainy periods.
Surprisingly, after hatching, both groups lived roughly the same length of time, which led the researchers to conclude that diapause had little-to-no deleterious effects.
New research into African killifish has shown that its period of diapause during embryo development has no negative effects on the lifespan of a fully developed adult.
These babies are usually pretty well-equipped for survival: Eggs and larvae can enter diapause just like adults can, and some get extra help from their doomed parents.
For their experiment, scientists established two groups: one that hatched without entering diapause and one that hatched after experiencing 5-months diapause.
They found that knocking out a gene called CBX7 caused embryos to fail to maintain diapause, highlighting the importance of specific genes in maintaining this suspended state.