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Sex, males, and hermaphrodites in the scale insect Icerya purchasi

View ORCID ProfileAndrew J. Mongue, Sozos Michaelides, Oliver Coombe, Alejandro Tena, View ORCID ProfileDong-Soon Kim, View ORCID ProfileBenjamin B. Normark, Andy Gardner, Mark S. Hoddle, View ORCID ProfileLaura Ross
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.09.04.281618
Andrew J. Mongue
1Institute of Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, West Mains Road, Edinburgh, EH9 3JT, United Kingdom
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  • For correspondence: amongue@ed.ac.uk laura.ross@ed.ac.uk
Sozos Michaelides
2Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PS, United Kingdom
3Department of Biology, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec H4B 1R6, Canada
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Oliver Coombe
2Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PS, United Kingdom
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Alejandro Tena
4Institut Valencià d’Investigacions Agràries (IVIA), Centre de Protecció Vegetal i Biotecnologia, Unitat d’Entomologia, 46113 Moncada, Spain
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Dong-Soon Kim
5Department of Plant Resources and the Environment, Jejun National University, Jeju, Korea
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Benjamin B. Normark
6Department of Biology and Graduate Program in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003
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Andy Gardner
1Institute of Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, West Mains Road, Edinburgh, EH9 3JT, United Kingdom
2Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PS, United Kingdom
7School of Biology, University of St Andrews, Harold Mitchell Building, St Andrews, Fife, KY16 9TH, United Kingdom
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Mark S. Hoddle
8Department of Entomology, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, U.S.A
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Laura Ross
1Institute of Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, West Mains Road, Edinburgh, EH9 3JT, United Kingdom
2Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PS, United Kingdom
6Department of Biology and Graduate Program in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003
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  • For correspondence: amongue@ed.ac.uk laura.ross@ed.ac.uk
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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.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

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The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.
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Posted September 05, 2020.
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Sex, males, and hermaphrodites in the scale insect Icerya purchasi
Andrew J. Mongue, Sozos Michaelides, Oliver Coombe, Alejandro Tena, Dong-Soon Kim, Benjamin B. Normark, Andy Gardner, Mark S. Hoddle, Laura Ross
bioRxiv 2020.09.04.281618; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.09.04.281618
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Sex, males, and hermaphrodites in the scale insect Icerya purchasi
Andrew J. Mongue, Sozos Michaelides, Oliver Coombe, Alejandro Tena, Dong-Soon Kim, Benjamin B. Normark, Andy Gardner, Mark S. Hoddle, Laura Ross
bioRxiv 2020.09.04.281618; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.09.04.281618

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