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Field-Based Thermal Physiology Assay: Cold Shock Recovery under Ambient Conditions
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Can rapid evolution allow insects to keep pace with global warming? Reviewing contributions from quantitative
José M Alruiz1, Luis E Castañeda1
1Núcleo Interdisciplinario de Biología y Genética (NiBG), Instituto de Ciencias Biomédicas (ICBM), Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile & Research Ring in Pest Insects and Climate Change (PIC2), Santiago, Chile.
Current Opinion in Insect Science
|June 12, 2026
Summary
Global warming challenges insect adaptation. Rapid evolution offers potential persistence, but constraints like genetic architecture and environmental complexity must be considered for accurate predictions.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary Ecology
- Climate Change Biology
- Insect Physiology
Background:
- Global warming presents rapid environmental changes, challenging insect populations' adaptive capacities.
- Understanding rapid evolution is crucial for predicting insect persistence under climate change.
- Assessing adaptive potential requires integrating multiple research approaches.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review recent advances in assessing rapid thermal adaptation in insects.
- To identify the potential for and constraints on rapid evolutionary responses to warming.
- To highlight the need for integrated approaches in predicting insect persistence.
Main Methods:
- Quantitative genetics to assess genetic variation for thermal traits.
- Experimental evolution to demonstrate adaptive potential under controlled conditions.
- Environmental gradients and common-garden experiments to study natural population responses.
Main Results:
- Sufficient genetic variation exists for thermal trait evolution, but genetic architecture can impose constraints.
- Experimental evolution confirms rapid adaptive responses are possible, though lab conditions may simplify natural environments.
- Environmental gradients drive phenotypic differentiation, and multiple interacting stressors influence adaptive trajectories.
Conclusions:
- Rapid thermal adaptation in insects is possible but constrained by genetic and environmental factors.
- A single-stressor perspective is insufficient; interacting pressures significantly alter evolutionary responses.
- Integrating evolutionary, ecological, and genomic approaches is essential for predicting insect persistence under future warming.
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