@article{BeerHelfrichFoerster2020,
  author    = {Beer, Katharina and Helfrich-F{\"o}rster, Charlotte},
  title     = {Model and Non-model Insects in Chronobiology},
  series = {Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience},
  volume    = {14},
  journal   = {Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience},
  issn      = {1662-5153},
  doi       = {10.3389/fnbeh.2020.601676},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-218721},
  year      = {2020},
  abstract  = {The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster is an established model organism in chronobiology, because genetic manipulation and breeding in the laboratory are easy. The circadian clock neuroanatomy in D. melanogaster is one of the best-known clock networks in insects and basic circadian behavior has been characterized in detail in this insect. Another model in chronobiology is the honey bee Apis mellifera, of which diurnal foraging behavior has been described already in the early twentieth century. A. mellifera hallmarks the research on the interplay between the clock and sociality and complex behaviors like sun compass navigation and time-place-learning. Nevertheless, there are aspects of clock structure and function, like for example the role of the clock in photoperiodism and diapause, which can be only insufficiently investigated in these two models. Unlike high-latitude flies such as Chymomyza costata or D. ezoana, cosmopolitan D. melanogaster flies do not display a photoperiodic diapause. Similarly, A. mellifera bees do not go into "real" diapause, but most solitary bee species exhibit an obligatory diapause. Furthermore, sociality evolved in different Hymenoptera independently, wherefore it might be misleading to study the social clock only in one social insect. Consequently, additional research on non-model insects is required to understand the circadian clock in Diptera and Hymenoptera. In this review, we introduce the two chronobiology model insects D. melanogaster and A. mellifera, compare them with other insects and show their advantages and limitations as general models for insect circadian clocks.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{VazeHelfrichFoerster2016,
  author    = {Vaze, Koustubh M. and Helfrich-F{\"o}rster, Charlotte},
  title     = {Drosophila ezoana uses an hour-glass or highly damped circadian clock for measuring night length and inducing diapause},
  series = {Physiological Entomology},
  volume    = {41},
  journal   = {Physiological Entomology},
  number    = {4},
  doi       = {10.1111/phen.12165},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-204278},
  pages     = {378-389},
  year      = {2016},
  abstract  = {Insects inhabiting the temperate zones measure seasonal changes in day or night length to enter the overwintering diapause. Diapause induction occurs after the duration of the night exceeds a critical night length (CNL). Our understanding of the time measurement mechanisms is continuously evolving subsequent to B{\"u}nning's proposal that circadian systems play the clock role in photoperiodic time measurement (B{\"u}nning, 1936). Initially, the photoperiodic clocks were considered to be either based on circadian oscillators or on simple hour-glasses, depending on 'positive' or 'negative' responses in Nanda-Hamner and B{\"u}nsow experiments (Nanda \& Hammer, 1958; B{\"u}nsow, 1960). However, there are also species whose responses can be regarded as neither 'positive', nor as 'negative', such as the Northern Drosophila species Drosophila ezoana, which is investigated in the present study. In addition, modelling efforts show that the 'positive' and 'negative' Nanda-Hamner responses can also be provoked by circadian oscillators that are damped to different degrees: animals with highly sustained circadian clocks will respond 'positive' and those with heavily damped circadian clocks will respond 'negative'. In the present study, an experimental assay is proposed that characterizes the photoperiodic oscillators by determining the effects of non-24-h light/dark cycles (T-cycles) on critical night length. It is predicted that there is (i) a change in the critical night length as a function of T-cycle period in sustained-oscillator-based clocks and (ii) a fxed night-length measurement (i.e. no change in critical night length) in damped-oscillator-based clocks. Drosophila ezoana flies show a critical night length of approximately 7 h irrespective of T-cycle period, suggesting a damped-oscillator-based photoperiodic clock. The conclusion is strengthened by activity recordings revealing that the activity rhythm of D. ezoana flies also dampens in constant darkness.},
  language  = {en}
}