Data from: Energy and lipid metabolism during direct and diapause development in a pierid butterfly

Diapause is a fundamental component of the life-cycle in the majority of
insects living in environments characterized by strong seasonality. The
present study addresses poorly understood associations and trade-offs
between endogenous diapause duration, thermal sensitivity of development,
energetic cost of development and cold tolerance. Diapause intensity,
metabolic rate trajectories and lipid profiles of directly developing and
diapausing animals were studied using pupae and adults of Pieris napi
butterflies from a population for which endogenous diapause is well
studied. Endogenous diapause was terminated after 3 months and termination
required chilling. Metabolic and postdiapause development rates increased
with diapause duration, while the metabolic cost of postdiapause
development decreased, indicating that once diapause is terminated
development proceeds at a low rate even at low temperature. Diapausing
pupae had larger lipid stores than the directly developing pupae and
lipids constituted the primary energy source during diapause. However,
during diapause lipid stores did not decrease. Thus, despite lipid
catabolism meeting the low energy costs of the diapausing pupae, primary
lipid store utilization did not occur until the onset of growth and
metamorphosis in spring. In line with this finding, diapausing pupae
contained low amounts of mitochondria-derived cardiolipins, which suggests
a low capacity for fatty acid β-oxidation. While ontogenic development had
a large effect on lipid and fatty acid profiles, only small changes in
these were seen during diapause. The data therefore indicate that the
diapause lipidomic phenotype is built early, when pupae are still at high
temperature, and retained until diapause post-diapause development.