Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Temperature-dependent oxygen limitation in insect eggs.

H Arthur Woods1, Ryan I Hill

  • 1Section of Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA. art.woods@mail.utexas.edu

The Journal of Experimental Biology
|May 26, 2004
PubMed
Summary

Insect moth embryos face oxygen limits at high temperatures. Warmer conditions exacerbate hypoxia, impacting survival and metabolism, even under normal oxygen levels.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Climate change interacts with insect biogeomorphic agents to alter physical and ecological processes.

Current opinion in insect science·2026
Same author

Architecture of the insect tracheal system driven by spatially varying limitation of oxygen and carbon dioxide transport.

Journal of the Royal Society, Interface·2026
Same author

Contrasting effects of climate warming on hosts and parasitoids: insights from Rocky Mountain aspen leaf miners and their parasitoids.

Proceedings. Biological sciences·2025
Same author

Editorial 2025: Changes and the future of JIP.

Journal of insect physiology·2025
Same author

Trichromacy is insufficient for mate detection in a mimetic butterfly.

Communications biology·2025
Same author

Changes in Vertical Stratification of Neotropical Nymphalid Butterflies at Forest Edges Are Not Directly Caused by Light and Temperature Conditions.

Insects·2025

Area of Science:

  • Insect Physiology
  • Developmental Biology
  • Ecology

Background:

  • Terrestrial insect embryos typically rely on environmental oxygen diffusion through eggshells for metabolism.
  • Metabolic processes are more temperature-sensitive than oxygen diffusion, suggesting potential oxygen limitation at elevated temperatures.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the impact of varying oxygen availability and temperature on Manduca sexta (moth) egg survival, development time, and metabolism.
  • To determine if insect embryos experience oxygen limitation at high, biologically relevant temperatures.

Main Methods:

  • Experimental manipulation of atmospheric oxygen levels (5-50 kPa) across a range of temperatures.
  • Measurement of carbon dioxide emission rates to assess metabolic activity.
  • Use of oxygen microelectrodes to profile oxygen partial pressure (P(O2)) within developing eggs.

Main Results:

  • Significant temperature-oxygen interactions were observed, with hypoxia more detrimental at warmer temperatures.
  • Metabolic rates showed temperature-dependent sensitivity to oxygen levels, being less affected at 22°C but strongly influenced at 37°C.
  • Oxygen levels within eggs decreased significantly at higher temperatures, with central regions falling below 2 kPa P(O2).

Conclusions:

  • Manduca sexta eggs experience oxygen limitation at high temperatures (32-37°C), even under normoxic conditions.
  • These findings have implications for insect population dynamics, eggshell evolution, and potentially insect gigantism theories.
  • High temperatures can create physiologically challenging hypoxic conditions for developing insect embryos.

Related Experiment Videos