Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-fbnjt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-06T02:22:39.919Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

XXIII.—The Cytology of the Thelytokously Parthenogenetic Saw-Fly Thrinax macula Kl

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 July 2012

A.D. Peacock
Affiliation:
Natural History Department, University College (University of St Andrews), Dundee.
Ann R. Sanderson
Affiliation:
Natural History Department, University College (University of St Andrews), Dundee.

Extract

Since the preliminary cytological work of Doncaster (1906) nothing has been recorded on the maturation of the thelytokously (female-producing) parthenogenetic saw-flies (Ten-thredinidæ). Doncaster worked with the four species now known, according to Enslin (1918), as Empria abdominalis F., E. pulverata Ritz., crœsus varus Vill., and Hemichroa crocea Geoffr., and he concluded (1907) that the chromosome number in the oocyte, polar nuclei and egg pronucleus was 8, there being two maturation divisions giving rise to an egg pronucleus and three polar nuclei. As stated in our note to Nature (1937) recent work on the thelytokously parthenogenetic species, Pristiphora pallipes Lep., by our colleague, Mr L. C. Comrie, confirms Doncaster regarding the number of maturation divisions and polar nuclei, but raises strong doubts on Doncaster's interpretations of chromosome number and behaviour. Doncaster did not make it clear whether the diploid number was 8 or 16, or whether auto regulation occurred during or after maturation. It appears probable that the real diploid number is 16, for intensive study of over twenty species of saw-flies, carried on mainly by Dr F. Greenshields in this department (unpublished work), shows that the characteristic diploid number for Tenthredinidæ is 16. Further, judging by Mr Comrie's research on Pristiphora pallipes, in which the diploid number is also found to be 16, it would appear probable that autoregulation in Doncaster's types is brought about by fusion of egg pronucleus and second polar nucleus.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Society of Edinburgh 1939

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References to Literature

Comrie, L. C., 1938. “Biological and Cytological Observations on Tenthredinid Parthenogenesis,” Nature, vol. cxlii, pp. 877878.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Doncaster, L., 1906. “On the Maturation of the Unfertilised Egg, and the Fate of the Polar Bodies, in the Tenthredinidæ (Sawflies),” Quart. Journ. Micr. Sci., vol. xlix, pp. 561589.Google Scholar
Doncaster, L., 1907. “Gametogenesis and Fertilisation in Nematus ribesii,” Q.J.M.S., vol. li, pp. 101113.Google Scholar
Enslin, E., 1918. Beihefte Deutsch. Entomol. Zeits., Berlin.Google Scholar
Peacock, A. D., 1923. “The Biology of Thrinax mixta Kl. and Thrinax macula Kl.,” Proc. Univ. Durham Phil. Soc., vol. vi, pp. 365374.Google Scholar
Peacock, A. D., 1928. “Parthenogenetic Male and Female Production by Two Kinds of Females in One and the Same Species of Saw-fly,” Rep. Brit. Assoc. Adv. Sci., Sect. D.Google Scholar
Peacock, A. D., and Sanderson, A. R., 1937. “Maturation in the Thelytokously Parthenogenetic Tenthredinidæ,” Nature, vol. cxl, p. 240.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sanderson, A. R., 1932. “The Cytology of Parthenogenesis in Tenthredinidæ,” Genetica, xiv. (Reprinted: St Andrews University Publication, 33.)Google Scholar
Schrader, F., 1923. “Haploidie bei einer Spinnmilbe,” Archiv. mikros. Anat., vol. xcvii, pp. 610622.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schrader, F., and Hughes-Schrader, S., 1931. “Haploidy in Metazoa,” Quart. Rev. Biol., vol. vi, pp. 411438.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vandel, A., 1931. La Parthénogénèse, Paris.Google Scholar