B. Anna Himler longchamp outlet, the biologist from the University of Arizona who led the research, told BBC News that the team used a battery of tests to verify their findings. Unusual evolution By fingerprinting DNA of the ant species - Mycocepurus smithii - they found them all to be clones of the colony's queen. And when they dissected the female insects, they found them to be physically incapable of mating, as an essential part of their reproductive system known as the mussel organ had degenerated.Asexual reproduction of males from unfertilised eggs is a normal part of some insect reproduction, but asexual reproduction of females is exceedingly rare in ants, write the researchers. In social insects, there are a number of different types of reproduction, explained Dr Himler. But this species has evolved its own unusual mode. She and her colleagues do not know exactly why this particular species has become fully asexual http://www.longchampoutlet4us.com/, and how long the ago the phenomenon evolved. They are carrying out further genetic experiments, which will enable them to estimate how long ago the evolutionary change occurred. No sex please There are advantages to life without sex, as Dr Himler explained. It avoids the energetic cost of producing males, and doubles the number of reproductive females produced each generation from 50% to 100% of the offspring. But combining genetic material in sexual reproduction gives future generations many more advantages. If we're more diverse, we're more resistant to parasites and disease, explained Laurent Keller outlet longchamp, an expert in social insects from the University of Lausanne. In a colony of clones, if one ant is susceptible to a parasite, they will all be susceptible. So if you're asexual;, you normally don't last very long. But in ants we're seeing more and more reports of unusual methods of reproduction, added Professor Keller, who was not involved in this study. He also points out that social insects, like ants, may be particularly well suited to this type of reproduction because it enables the queen to control the caste Related articles:

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