Sex, males, and hermaphrodites in the scale insect Icerya purchasi
Abstract
Androdioecy (the coexistence of males and hermaphrodites) is a rare mating system for which the evolutionary dynamics are poorly understood. Here we study the only presumed case of androdioecy in insects, found in the cottony cushion scale, Icerya purchasi . In this species, female-like hermaphrodites have been shown to produce sperm and self-fertilize. However, rare males are sometimes observed too. In a large population-genetic analysis, we show for the first time that although self-fertilization appears to be the primary mode of reproduction, rare outbreeding events between males and hermaphrodites do occur, and we thereby confirm androdioecy as the mating system of I. purchasi . Thus, this insect appears to have the colonization advantages of a selfing organism while also benefitting from periodic reintroduction of genetic variation through outbreeding with males.
Citation
Mongue , A , Michaelides , S , Coombe , O , Tena , A , Kim , D-S , Normark , B , Gardner , A , Hoddle , M & Ross , L 2021 , ' Sex, males, and hermaphrodites in the scale insect Icerya purchasi ' , Evolution , vol. Early View . https://doi.org/10.1111/evo.14233
Publication
Evolution
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
0014-3820Type
Journal article
Rights
Copyright © 2021 The Authors. Evolution published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of The Society for the Study of Evolution. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Description
Funding: This work was supported by a number of fellowships, namely a University Research Fellowship from Royal Society of London (to AG) and a Junior Research Fellowship from Balliol College, Oxford to AG. Funding came from Independent Research Fellowships from Natural Environment Research Council (grant no. NE/K009524/1 to AG and NE/K009516/1 to LR), a Consolidator Grant from European Research Council (grant no. 771387 to AG), a European Research Countil Starting Grant (PGErepro to LR), and a Royal Society Newton fellowship (to LR).Collections
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