Dormancy is described for adults of the stalk-eyed fly, Diopsis longicornis Macquart (Diopsidae: Diptera) in the tropical savanna of coastal Guinée, West Africa. Populations of diopsids maintained themselves within each chosen refugium throughout the dry season unless the site dried up. Sex ratio within the populations at each refugium remained constant throughout the dry period. Slightly more females than males were found (56%), and of these only 0.8% were gravid. Movement of stalk-eyed fly adults from the rice field to the refugia corresponded with the end of the rice cropping period (stage of ripening and harvest) at the end of the wet season (late October to November), whereas movement from the refugia to the rice field occurred towards the end of the dry season Gate (May/early June), but well in advance of the rice crop planting (July and August) of the following wet season. Insects retained their state of reproductive arrest in the dry season even when offered suitable oviposition sites, i.e. rice plants. Secondary host plants were investigated as possible oviposition sites and food sources for adult flies.

Samples of ground beetles (Carabidae) were collected throughout the year-long 1985 Joint Indonesian–Royal Entomological Society expedition, Project Wallace, in an area of rain forest in N. Sulawesi. The beetles were collected by a range of collecting techniques including insecticide fogging, malaise, flight interception, pitfall and light trapping as well as hand collecting. The state of ovary maturation was determined by dissecting the females. A high number of species of Carabidae show a distinct seasonal reproductive rhythm in the form of gonad dormancy, avoiding reproduction in the slightly cooler months in the middle of the year. In contrast, most species of tiger beetles (subfamily Cicindelinae) are reproductively active at this time of year. The study area appears to have an unusually variable monthly rainfall for this region, and we suggest that the seasonality in the ground and tiger beetles is a response to the strict annual rainfall patterns of the coastal areas 10–20 km to the north and south.