Demographic analysis of arrhenotokous parthenogenesis and bisexual reproduction of Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande) (Thysanoptera: Thripidae)

Abstract

Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande) (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) is a serious pest that is capable of bisexual and arrhenotokous reproduction. In arrhenotokous reproduction, virgin females initially produce male offspring; later, when their sons are sexually mature, the mothers begin bisexual reproduction by carrying out oedipal mating with their sons. Because a virgin female produces many male offspring before oedipal mating occurs, multiple oedipal mating is common. In this study, we investigated the effect of multiple oedipal mating on the population growth of F. occidentalis by using the age-stage, two-sex life table theory. In the arrhenotokous cohorts, all unfertilized eggs developed into males. In the bisexual cohorts, the offspring sex ratio was significantly female biased with the mean number of female offspring and male offspring being 72.68 and 29.00, respectively. These were the same as the net reproductive rate of female offspring and male offspring. In arrhenotokous cohorts, the number of males available for oedipal mating significantly affected the production of female offspring. The number of female offspring increased as the number of sons available for oedipal mating increased. Correctly characterizing this unique type of reproduction will provide important information for predicting the timing of future outbreaks of F. occidentalis, as well as aiding in formulating successful management strategies against the species.

Invasion biology, ecology, and management of Frankliniella occidentalis in China

“…In sexual reproduction, it appears to have an optimal sex ratio (e.g., female:male=1:1) and mating time, which contributes to extended adult longevity and enhanced fecundity (X. M. Yang et al, ; C. M. Yuan, Zhi, Ma, & Cao, ). In arrhenotokous reproduction, fecundity peaks occur later compared with sexual reproduction (Ding, Chi, Gökçe, Gao, & Zhang, ). In addition, WFT can utilize a haplodiploid reproductive strategy, in which females develop from fertilized eggs and males from unfertilized eggs (Moritz, ).…”

“…In addition, WFT can utilize a haplodiploid reproductive strategy, in which females develop from fertilized eggs and males from unfertilized eggs (Moritz, ). Therefore, one virgin female WFT can establish a population by sexual (oedipal mating initially) and arrhenotokous reproduction (Ding et al, ). This reproductive model not only contributes to rapidly establishing populations but quickly enriches the expression of genes that are beneficial to population development (Espinosa et al, ).…”

“…This reproductive model not only contributes to rapidly establishing populations but quickly enriches the expression of genes that are beneficial to population development (Espinosa et al, ). Establishment and further study of WFT inbreeding populations were critical in revealing its invasive mechanism and formulate successful management strategy against this pest (Ding et al, ; G. D. Yuan et al, ).…”

Sexual antagonism in haplodiploids

“…First, oedipal mating (Table 1.) occurs because a virgin female may produce an exclusively male brood with which she then mates, a reproductive strategy observed in groups including: mites (McCulloch and Owen 2012; Tuan et al 2016) beetles (Entwistle 1964; Jordal et al 2001), parasitoid wasps (Browne 1922; Schneider et al 2002), pinworms (Adamson and Ludwig 1993), and thrips (Ding et al 2018). Second, in the scale insect Icerya purchasi , selfing is understood to occur as a consequence of a diploid female containing a transovarially transmitted haploid spermatogenic cell lineage that may fertilise her eggs (Royer 1975; Normark 2009; Ross et al 2010b; Mongue et al 2020).…”

Towards breeding thrips-resistant varieties in Capsicum

“…The egg to adult development time depends on environmental factors such as temperature, photoperiod and host plant (Lublinkhof and Foster, 1977;Brødsgaard, 1994;McDonald et al, 1998;Ishida et al, 2003). Female thrips can reproduce both sexually and asexually, depending on the species (Lewis, 1973;Jenser and Szénási, 2004;Wang et al, 2014;Ding et al, 2018).…”