# Diapause

> A programmed, hormone-controlled dormancy that a pest enters in response to cues such as short days and cool temperatures, ahead of bad conditions.

- Canonical: https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/diapause.html
- Also written: overwintering diapause, reproductive diapause, diapausing females
- Glossary category: Pests and diseases · Evidence: Established
- Status: Draft: awaiting expert review · Updated: 2026-10-31
- Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/), attribute "GenetixBay cannabis glossary"

Diapause is a genetically programmed pause in development or reproduction, triggered in advance by cues rather than by the bad conditions themselves. In the [two-spotted spider mite](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/two-spotted-spider-mite.md) only adult females diapause; the cue is short [day length](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/photoperiod.md) experienced by the immature stages, strengthened by cool temperatures, and diapausing females turn orange-red and stop laying. Reviews of spider mite photoperiodism describe this response in detail.

## In practice

Diapause matters indoors in two ways. A 12-hour flowering photoperiod and cool nights can push some mite strains toward diapause, so orange mites hiding in cracks and canopy debris survive between runs. Several [beneficials](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/biological-control.md) also diapause under short days, notably some strains of [Orius](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/orius.md) bugs and the [aphid](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/aphid.md) midge, so they can fail in flower rooms unless a non-diapausing strain is used.

## Don't confuse with

- **Quiescence**: an immediate slowdown when conditions turn bad, reversed as soon as they improve.
- **Carmine mite colour**: red mites are not necessarily diapausing; some forms are red all year.

## Related terms

[Developmental threshold](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/developmental-threshold.md), [Degree-day](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/degree-day.md), [Two-spotted spider mite](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/two-spotted-spider-mite.md)

## Read more

- [Temperature, humidity and pest population growth in cannabis: every major pest compared](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/pests/temperature-humidity-and-pest-population-growth.md)
- [Spider mites on cannabis: life tables, ID and IPM](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/pests/spider-mites.md)

## Sources

1. Goto, S.G., 2016. Physiological and molecular mechanisms underlying photoperiodism in the spider mite: comparisons with insects. Journal of Comparative Physiology B 186:969-984. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00360-016-1018-9
2. UC IPM. Pest Notes: Spider Mites (Publication 7405). University of California ANR. https://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7405.html