Does ecology shape geographical parthenogenesis? Evidence from the facultatively parthenogenetic stick insect Megacrania batesii.

ABSTRACT: Closely related sexual and parthenogenetic species often show distinct distribution patterns, known as geographical parthenogenesis. Similar patterns, characterized by the existence of separate sexual and parthenogenetic populations across their natural range, can also be found in facultative parthenogens - species in which every female is capable of both sexual and parthenogenetic reproduction. The underlying mechanisms driving this phenomenon in nature remain unclear. Features of the habitat, such as differences in host-plant phenotypes or niche breadth, could favour sexual or asexual reproductive modes and thus help to explain geographical parthenogenesis in natural insect populations. Megacrania batesii is a facultatively parthenogenetic stick insect that displays geographical p

SUBMITTER: Miller S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11322659 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature