Parthogenetic spp.

I was wondering if Periplaneta americana or Henschoutedenia flexivitta were able to produce young without mating. I have unmated females of both species. The P. americana was caught as a nymph, has not been around males, and has produced two ootheca, which have started getting ridges, which I normally see in other species' ootheca when they are getting close to hatching. The H. flexivitta is currently airing an ootheca. She's kept with others of her species, but none but her are mature yet.

 
Also, is it parthogenesis or parthenogenesis? And would I be properly making it an adjective by saying parthogenetic or parthenogenetic? :lol:

 
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I believe it is parthenogenesis? If I recall right, I think I heard that Periplaneta americana is partially parthenogenic? Same with Blattella germanica but I dont know about H. flexivitta.

 
Thank you guys! I thought I would let you know that one of the P. americana ooths hatched and the H. flexivitta ootheca was aborted. Out of curiosity, in parthenogenetically produced ootheca, are all the nymphs females?

 
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Wait, it actually hatched?! Thats awesome! Since I know basically nothing about parthenogenesis with other species like P. americana or B. germanica, I cannot tell you that one.

 
I don't have an answer for this, but I did find that roaches have an X0 system for gender determination... females are XX, males have only one sex chromosome and are indicated X0. This means that there is nothing that a roach NEEDS from a male in order to be male (unlike we male humans who need the Y chromosome from a dad... or at least the SrY region of it in order to be male)

Also, here are some search terms to help you use search engines better to find the answer:

Thelytoky - female clones are produced through parthenogenic reproduction (Surinam Roaches)

Arrhenotoky - male offspring are produced through parthenogenic reproduction (Komodo Dragons)

 
RomanBuck said:
Wait, it actually hatched?! Thats awesome! Since I know basically nothing about parthenogenesis with other species like P. americana or B. germanica, I cannot tell you that one.
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Yeah, they hatched out (: However, after checking the inside of the ootheca, I saw 2 did not hatch. They didn't even look like they developed at all.Altogether, there are 10 nymphs that did manage to hatch and look healthy as can be. Now, I need to see if they'll mature and I'll let you guys know if I get males.

wcbpolish said:
I don't have an answer for this, but I did find that roaches have an X0 system for gender determination... females are XX, males have only one sex chromosome and are indicated X0. This means that there is nothing that a roach NEEDS from a male in order to be male (unlike we male humans who need the Y chromosome from a dad... or at least the SrY region of it in order to be male)

Also, here are some search terms to help you use search engines better to find the answer:

Thelytoky - female clones are produced through parthenogenic reproduction (Surinam Roaches)

Arrhenotoky - male offspring are produced through parthenogenic reproduction (Komodo Dragons)
Click to expand...
I'm majoring in biology, and that sounds spot on for humans and cockroaches. I was reading up on mole voles, where sex determination wasn't based on XX, XY, or XO sex chromosomes since both males and females are XO ,and the SRY gene has not been found in the autosomes of males. Since cockroach sex is determined by the XO system, I guess it's pretty different and less of a mystery, at least to the people who study that sort of thing. Would you happen to know if Surinames produce truly clonal young? I'm guessing that if they don't, then non-disjunction or deletion is what causes occasional males, although deletion would also make sense if their young are truly clones. Also thank you so much for the two terms. I'm going to have so much fun reading up on them.

 
surinamensis is a true clonal species. Deletion actually makes a lot of sense for the random throw of a male. Didnt occur to me until someone said something!

 
Hey guys! I don't get on here as often as I used to, but I was finally able to sex the pathogenetically-produced nymphs of my P. americana. They're all female! Unfortunately, I was only able to sex 8 out of 10 because I had placed the nymphs with their mom in a large-ish tub, and 2 went missing. I purchased more P. americana from Roman, but I didn't have other tubs laying around. Before adding the new roaches, I removed the parthogenetically-produced nymphs and placed them into a small deli cup, where they've been living for the past few months. I think I may have misidentified them and their mother. The roaches that Roman sent me look a bit different than the mother. While Roman's stock has very clear markings on the light-colored pronota, mine is larger and has a darker, less defined pronotum pattern. Anyway, although I know that it's far from proof that P. "americana" produces clonal young, I think it's a possibility that it does. I can't wait for these girls to mature to see if they'll lay viable ootheca. I've read that parthogenesis can only occur for a few generations in this species. I'd like to see if that's true for these guys.

 
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