SummaryA 'boy' or 'girl' offspring depends on the weather and temperature, according to a new study.
Whether an insect will have a 'boy' or 'girl' offspring depends on the weather and temperature, according to a new study.
The research led by Joffrey Moiroux and Jacques Brodeur from the University of Montreal involved experimenting with a species of oophagous parasitoid (Trichogramma euproctidis), an insect that lays its eggs inside a host insect that will be consumed by the future larvae.
"We know that climate affects the reproductive behaviour of insects. But we never clearly demonstrated the effects of climate change on sex allocation in parasitoids," Moiroux said.
"It is possible to predict whether the parasitoid will lay a son or daughter by observing the presence or absence of a pause in its abdominal contractions at the time of spawning," he said.
"A pause means the egg will be fertilised. Conversely, the absence of a pause means the egg will not be fertilised," said Moiroux.
To know whether this particular behaviour is modified by climate, the researcher exposed female Trichogramma to three different temperatures: 34 degrees Celsius (high), 24 degrees Celsius (medium), and 14 degrees Celsius (low).
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