Lysiphlebus is a genus of parasitoid wasps belonging to the family Braconidae.[1]

Lysiphlebus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Braconidae
Subfamily: Aphidiinae
Genus: Lysiphlebus
Förster, 1862

The genus has a near cosmopolitan distribution.[1]

Species:[1]

Reproduction

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Most Lysiphlebus species are haplodiploid, like other Hymenoptera.[2] However, all-female lineages are common in some Lysiphlebus-taxa including L. fabarum, L. cardui and L. confusus.[3]

In these asexual lineages, females can reproduce by a parthenogenetic mechanism, i.e. thelytoky, that involves automixis with central fusion.[4]

The genetic system underlying sex determination in Lysiphlebus is "complementary sex determination", similar to the cape honey bee (see Haplodiploidy § Sex determination in honey bees).[5] Unlike honey bees, however, the Lysiphlebus complementary sex determiner gene is thought to be present in multiple copies.[6]

Asexual females may occasionally produce diploid males, which when mated with sexual females, can convert sexual into asexual lineages, a process which has been dubbed "contagious parthenogenesis".[7]

Ecology

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Like other Aphidiinae, Lysiphlebus are endoparasitoids of aphids. They lay their eggs inside the body of aphids, where their larvae develop, eventually spinning a mummy-like cocoon inside its remains.[8]

Most Lysiphlebus species specialize in attacking ant-defended aphid colonies.[8] They avoid attack by the ants through chemical mimicry of the aphid cuticular hydrocarbons.[9]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Lysiphlebus Förster, 1862". www.gbif.org. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
  2. ^ Cook, James M. (October 1993). "Sex determination in the Hymenoptera: a review of models and evidence". Heredity. 71 (4): 421–435. doi:10.1038/hdy.1993.157. ISSN 1365-2540.
  3. ^ Sandrock, Christoph; Schirrmeister, Bettina E.; Vorburger, Christoph (2011-12-01). "Evolution of reproductive mode variation and host associations in a sexual-asexual complex of aphid parasitoids". BMC Evolutionary Biology. 11 (1): 348. Bibcode:2011BMCEE..11..348S. doi:10.1186/1471-2148-11-348. ISSN 1471-2148. PMC 3259107. PMID 22132834.
  4. ^ Belshaw R, Quicke DL. The cytogenetics of thelytoky in a predominantly asexual parasitoid wasp with covert sex. Genome. 2003 Feb;46(1):170-3. doi: 10.1139/g02-112. PMID 12669810
  5. ^ Gempe, Tanja; Hasselmann, Martin; Schiøtt, Morten; Hause, Gerd; Otte, Marianne; Beye, Martin (2009-10-20). "Sex Determination in Honeybees: Two Separate Mechanisms Induce and Maintain the Female Pathway". PLOS Biology. 7 (10): e1000222. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1000222. ISSN 1545-7885. PMC 2758576. PMID 19841734.
  6. ^ Matthey-Doret, Cyril; van der Kooi, Casper J; Jeffries, Daniel L; Bast, Jens; Dennis, Alice B; Vorburger, Christoph; Schwander, Tanja (2019-10-01). Mank, Judith (ed.). "Mapping of Multiple Complementary Sex Determination Loci in a Parasitoid Wasp". Genome Biology and Evolution. 11 (10): 2954–2962. doi:10.1093/gbe/evz219. ISSN 1759-6653. PMC 6821247. PMID 31596478.
  7. ^ Engelstädter, Jan; Sandrock, Christoph; Vorburger, Christoph (2011). "Contagious Parthenogenesis, Automixis, and a Sex Determination Meltdown". Evolution. 65 (2): 501–511. doi:10.1111/j.1558-5646.2010.01145.x. PMID 21029077. S2CID 7035178. Retrieved 2024-03-10.
  8. ^ a b Völkl, W. (1997), Dettner, Konrad; Bauer, Gerhard; Völkl, Wolfgang (eds.), "Interactions Between Ants and Aphid Parasitoids: Patterns and Consequences for Resource Utilization", Vertical Food Web Interactions: Evolutionary Patterns and Driving Forces, Ecological Studies, vol. 130, Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer, pp. 225–240, doi:10.1007/978-3-642-60725-7_13, ISBN 978-3-642-60725-7, retrieved 2024-03-10
  9. ^ Völkl, W.; Mackauer, M. (1993-05-01). "Interactions between ants attendingAphis fabae ssp.cirsiiacanthoidis on thistles and foraging parasitoid wasps". Journal of Insect Behavior. 6 (3): 301–312. Bibcode:1993JIBeh...6..301V. doi:10.1007/BF01048111. ISSN 1572-8889. S2CID 10690924.