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LARGE POPULATION SIZE PREDICTS THE DISTRIBUTION OF ASEXUALITY IN SCALE INSECTS
Author(s) -
Ross Laura,
Hardy Nate B,
Okusu Akiko,
Normark Benjamin B
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
evolution
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.84
H-Index - 199
eISSN - 1558-5646
pISSN - 0014-3820
DOI - 10.1111/j.1558-5646.2012.01784.x
Subject(s) - asexuality , biology , asexual reproduction , sexual reproduction , population , ecology , extinction (optical mineralogy) , evolutionary biology , human sexuality , demography , gender studies , paleontology , sociology
Understanding why some organisms reproduce by sexual reproduction while others can reproduce asexually remains an important unsolved problem in evolutionary biology. Simple demography suggests that asexuals should outcompete sexually reproducing organisms, because of their higher intrinsic rate of increase. However, the majority of multicellular organisms have sexual reproduction. The widely accepted explanation for this apparent contradiction is that asexual lineages have a higher extinction rate. A number of models have indicated that population size might play a crucial role in the evolution of asexuality. The strength of processes that lead to extinction of asexual species is reduced when population sizes get very large, so that the long‐term advantage of sexual over asexual reproduction may become negligible. Here, we use a comparative approach using scale insects (Coccoidea, Hemiptera) to show that asexuality is indeed more common in species with larger population density and geographic distribution and we also show that asexual species tend to be more polyphagous. We discuss the implication of our findings for previously observed patterns of asexuality in agricultural pests.