Micropsectra sedna (Oliver, 1976) is a parthenogenetic midge from the Canadian Arctic. The parthenogenetic mechanism is apomictic thelytoky, with a restitutional division during oogenesis, as found in other parthenogenetic Chironomidae. It is triploid, with two similar chromosome sets, and the third is relatively dissimilar, pairing little with the diploid set. Two karyotypes were observed: a s...

Differentiation into castes and reproductive division of labour are a characteristics of eusocial insects. Caste determination occurs at an early stage of larval development in social bees and is achieved via differential nutrition irrespective of the genotype. Workers are usually subordinate to the queen and altruistically refrain from reproduction. Workers of the Cape honeybee (Apis mellifera...

Asexual reproduction is particularly common among introduced species, probably because it helps to overcome the negative effects associated with low population densities during colonization. The ant Cerapachys biroi has been introduced to tropical and subtropical islands around the world since the beginning of the last century. In this species, workers can reproduce via thelytokous parthenogene...

Abstract We evaluated the diversity and spatiotemporal emergence patterns of parasitoid wasp species in genus Eurytoma Illiger (Hymenoptera: Eurytomidae) associated with leaf galls induced by Diplolepis variabilis Bassett Cynipidae) throughout Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada. collected D. region, recorded adult times, extracted mitochondria DNA from a subset emergents, used cytochrome...

Two new species Proboscidopirates ericguilberti sp. nov. Baňař & Štys and Proboscidopirates rugulosus sp. nov. Baňař & Štys are described from central-east Madagascar. A list of Proboscidopirates species is given. Potential thelytoky of this endemic Madagascan genus, some of its generic and species-specific dignostic characters and its distribution relative to that of Oncylocotis Stål species a...

Mutational load depends not only on the number and nature of mutations but also on the reproductive mode. Traditionally, only a few specific reproductive modes are considered in the search of explanations for the maintenance of sex. There are, however, many alternatives. Including these may give radically different conclusions. The theory on deterministic deleterious mutations states that in la...

Both arrhenotokous and thelytokous reproduction are known to occur in the parasitoid wasp Venturia canescens. The cytological mechanism of thelytoky was previously reported to involve the formation of a restitution metaphase after the reduction division, but the exact nature of the subsequent divisions, whether reductional or equational, remained unclear. We reinvestigated the cytological mecha...

Arrhenotoky is the typical mode of reproduction in Hymenoptera. Diploid females develop from fertilized eggs, whereas haploid males originate unfertilized eggs. However, some taxa Hymenoptera have evolved thelytoky, which diploid parthenogenetically In contrast to other hymenopteran lineages, like ants and parasitic wasps, thelytoky generally very rare bees. Here, we evaluated frequency small c...