In no other group of organisms does the sheer scale of programmed dormancy stand out as staggeringly as in insect diapause. Unlike most other kinds of dormancy, largely characterized by physiological and behavioral suppression, insect diapause is a state of programmed developmental arrest. Insect development is uniquely modular in that successive developmental stages are demarcated by sharp transitions like molts and pupation. There are over a million known insect species, with a dizzying variety of life strategies and ecological niches that they occupy (not to mention that an estimated 80-90 percent of all existing insect species remain undiscovered). Thanks to Dr. Jeffery Tomberlin at Texas A&M University for helpful discussions on insect diapause and especially the biology of the black soldier fly.