Adaptations
Various patterns of behavior enable certain ectotherms to regulate body temperature to a useful extent. To warm up, reptiles and amphibians find sunny places and adopt positions that maximise their exposure; at harmfully high temperatures they seek shade or cooler water. In cold weather, honey bees huddle together to retain heat. Butterflies and moths may orient their wings to maximize exposure to solar radiation in order to build up heat before takeoff. Many flying insects, such as honey bees and bumble bees, also raise their internal temperatures endothermally prior to flight, by vibrating their flight muscles without violent movement of the wings. Such endothermal activity is an example of the difficulty of consistent application of terms such as poikilothermy and homoiothermy.
In addition to behavioral adaptations, physiological adaptations help ectotherms regulate temperature. Diving reptiles conserve heat by heat exchange mechanisms, whereby cold blood from the skin picks up heat from blood moving outward from the body core, re-using and thereby conserving some of the heat that otherwise would have been wasted. The skin of bullfrogs secretes more mucus when it is hot, allowing more cooling by evaporation.
During periods of cold some ectotherms enter a state of torpor, in which their metabolism slows or, in some cases, such as the Wood Frog, effectively stops. The torpor might last overnight or last for a season, or even for years, depending on the species and circumstances.
Read more about this topic: Ectotherm