Roachsmith
Sixth Instar
Are Polyphaga aegyptiaca parthenogenic? What other species are able to reproduce through parthenogenesis?
Parthenogenesis
- Thread starter Roachsmith
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Matt K
Eurycotis
Errr, mine don't seem to be. Actually, my males really outnumber my females.
In fact, Periplaneta americana, Periplaneta fuliginosa, Blatta orientalis, B. germanica, Byrsotria fumigata, Nauphoeta cinerea, and Polyphaga sausseri can produce viable ootheca without a male, but I have read that they can only do this for a generation or two and then no more parthenogenisis....
The above mentioned are all known to "switch" to a parthenogenic mode temporarily, and the N.cinerea only certain females can and others can't. It is a trait that runs in certain "families" in a colony. So I would think by default that Polyphaga aegyptica could have females that "switch" to parthenogenic mode to reproduce, but would only make more females and you would then still need to find a male. This may have been written about in a paper by Roth and Willis in 1956, but my notes aren't clear...(can't read my own writing!)
If you want to see parthenogenisis in action, pick up some Pycnoscelus surinamensis. They are exclusively female (no males in the whole race) which is part of why they are found circumtropically...
I've not heard of any of these species being able to reproduce through parthenogenesis, it would be interesting to see the paper.All the species presently kept from the genus Polyphaga can reproduce through parthenogenesis but not all polyphagids; infertile Erguala capucina oothecae don't hatch.
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Matt K
Eurycotis
Here are the references:
Roth and Willis, 1956; Barth, in Roth and Stay, 1962a; Brown, 1973a; Xian, 1998; they also include a few other species that I am not familiar with which exhibit this phenomenon. I don't have copies to email but were found via internet as PDF files posted online.
Roth and Willis, 1956; Barth, in Roth and Stay, 1962a; Brown, 1973a; Xian, 1998; they also include a few other species that I am not familiar with which exhibit this phenomenon. I don't have copies to email but were found via internet as PDF files posted online.
Roachsmith
Sixth Instar
Thanks! That's really interesting!
happy1892
Twelfth Instar
Where did you read that Blattella germanica are parthenogenetic? The two adult females I had did not make oothecae that hatched babies. I grew them from a nymph without a male. I could have not cared for the oothecae right though I guess. I have read people have got oothecae without males but never got any to hatch without males and so it said they were not parthenogenetic.