Why do insects decrease in winter and increase in summer?

Weather of Arabia - Winter has an additional advantage other than good rain, which is that some insects decrease significantly in winter, so does the decrease in external temperatures and precipitation affect insects? How do weather changes affect the behavior of insects, their reproduction rates, and their feeding habits? What are the weather conditions that drive insects into our homes in search of shelter?

How does air temperature affect insects?

Insects are cold-blooded creatures that cannot produce heat in their own bodies. This means that the temperature of their surroundings plays an important role in their growth, development, and behaviour. How do temperature differences affect insects, and why can temperature fluctuations lead to indoor insects?

cold weather

• Insects adapt to cold temperatures by migrating to warmer places, searching for a place to hibernate, or seeking shelter, which can range from burying themselves underground to invading our homes in search of warmth.

• Spiders, spotted insects, beetles, and some types of crickets are just a few of the common insects that make their way indoors as temperatures begin to drop.

• When the weather gets cold, many insects become sluggish. After a cold night, grasshoppers are often stiff and unable to hop until the sun warms them up again. Some flying insects are not able to move their wings fast enough to fly when the temperature drops.

the weather is hot

• Except in the tropics, insect reproduction rates usually increase in the warmer months , which is why you see more insects when the temperature rises.

• As temperatures rise, the metabolic rates of insects also increase, which means they need to eat more food to survive , thus, insects can invade homes looking for a delicious snack or you may notice an increase in insects that damage your garden during the hotter months warm.

Read also: Safe ways to get rid of household insects that abound in hot weather

How do heavy rains and droughts affect insects?

Just like humans, insects need water to live. However, the effects of too much or too little rainfall on insects depend on the type of insect.

dry weather

• Extremely dry weather sends many insects indoors in search of water, including cockroaches.

• Some insects grow and reproduce in hot dry weather, for example, locusts and spiders numbers rise in these conditions and can destroy agricultural crops during droughts.

• Mosquitoes need water to lay their eggs and reproduce, so dry weather affects mosquito reproduction, even if temperatures are within the range in which they are active.

wet weather

• Increased rainfall enhances the activity of moisture-loving insects such as mosquitoes, cockroaches, and mosquitoes lay their eggs in stagnant water, so after heavy rains, mosquito numbers can increase.

• We note that during heavy rains, many insects invade homes in search of shelter, including spiders and ants.

• Floods can force some insects out of their nests in the ground, at which point colonies of ants can quickly invade homes looking for food and dry land.

Additional information

Did you know that you can measure the air temperature through the tweets of a cricket?

Perhaps the relationship of the sound of a cricket with temperature is the most wonderful example of how the animal kingdom is in harmony with changes in the weather, as this relationship is known as Dolbear’s law, which is named after the American physicist (Amos Dolbear), and the relationship is an equation that links temperature with a number The times when this insect makes the sound.

The relationship between temperature and the number of tweets results from a rise in the cold-blooded night cricket's metabolism, which occurs when the temperature rises. A higher metabolism provides more energy for the muscle contractions that produce sound.

You can use Dolbert's law to calculate the air temperature by counting the number of beeps a cricket makes in 14 seconds and adding 40, the sum will approximately equal the current temperature in Fahrenheit.

for example:

32 tweets + 40 = 72 degrees Fahrenheit,

To convert to degrees Celsius, count the number of cricket tweets in 25 seconds, divide by 3, and add 4

for example:

(57 tweets / (3)) + 4 = 23 degrees Celsius

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