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Updated: Dec 10, 2025

Manipulation of Ploidy in Caenorhabditis elegans
Published on: March 15, 2018
Haplodiploidy and the reproductive ecology of Arthropods
Andrés G de la Filia1, Stevie A Bain1, Laura Ross1
1School of Biological Sciences, Institute of Evolutionary Biology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3JT, UK.
Abstract:
Approximately 15% of all arthropods reproduce through haplodiploidy. Yet it is unclear how this mode of reproduction affects other aspects of reproductive ecology. In this review we outline predictions on how haplodiploidy might affect mating system evolution, the evolution of traits under sexual or sexual antagonistic selection, sex allocation decisions and the evolution of parental care. We also give an overview of the phylogenetic distribution of haplodiploidy. Finally, we discuss how comparisons between different types of haplodiploidy (arrhenotoky, PGE with haploid vs somatically diploid males) might help to discriminate between the effects of virgin birth, haploid gene expression and those of haploid gene transmission.
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