Photoperiodic modulation of insect circadian rhythms

Circadian rhythms can be seen in a variety of physiological functions in insects. Light is a powerful zeitgeber not only synchronizing but also modulating the rhythm to adjust insect's temporal structure to seasonal changes in the environmental cycle. There are two general effects of the length of light phase within 24 hr light cycles on the circadian rhythms, i.e., the modulation of free-running period and the waveform. Since the photoperiodic modulation of the free-running period is induced even in the clock mutant flies, per$\^$s/, the free-running period is not fully determined genetically. In crickets, the ratio of activity (a) and rest phase (p) under the constant darkness (DD) is clearly dependent on the photoperiod under which they have been kept. When experienced the longer photoperiod it becomes smaller. The magnitude of change in a/p-ratio is dependent on the number of cycles they experienced. The neuronal activity of the optic lobe in DD shows the a/p-ratio changing with the preceding photoperiod. These data suggest that a single circadian pacemaker stores and maintains the photoperiodic information and that there is a system that accumulates the effects of single photoperiod to cause greater effects.