Diploid males sire triploid daughters and sons in the parasitoid wasp Cotesia vestalis

Transcriptome Pyrosequencing of the Parasitoid Wasp Cotesia vestalis: Genes Involved in the Antennal Odorant-Sensory System

Cotesia vestalis is an endoparasitic wasp that attacks larvae of the diamondback moth (Plutella xylostella), a herbivore of cruciferous plants. Females of C. vestalis use herbivore-induced plant odorants released from plants infested by P. xylostella as a host-searching cue. Transcriptome pyrosequencing was used to identify genes in the antennae of C. vestalis adult females coding for odorant r...

Diploid males and their triploid offspring in the paper wasp Polistes dominulus.

Although the hymenopteran sex-determining mechanism generally results in haploid males and diploid females, diploid males can be produced via homozygosity at the sex-determining locus. Diploid males have low fitness because they are effectively sterile or produce presumably sterile triploid offspring. Previously, triploid females were observed in three species of North American Polistes paper w...

Experimental support for multiple-locus complementary sex determination in the parasitoid Cotesia vestalis.

Despite its fundamental role in development, sex determination is highly diverse among animals. Approximately 20% of all animals are haplodiploid, with haploid males and diploid females. Haplodiploid species exhibit diverse but poorly understood mechanisms of sex determination. Some hymenopteran insect species exhibit single-locus complementary sex determination (sl-CSD), where heterozygosity a...

Experimental Support for Multiple Locus Complementary Sex Determination in the 3 Parasitoid Cotesia vestalis 4 5

America's sons and daughters.

Hilary Valdez, MS, is a Survivor Outreach Services Coordinator for the U.S. Army in Tokyo, Japan and provides services that support the Families of Fallen Soldiers. He conducts support groups and life skills training to the community and leadership. My reassignment to the desolate, harsh environment of the Mojave Desert came as quite a shock. Leaving my family to join sturdy, hard core Marines ...