INSECT REPRODUCTION

REPRODUCTION: The process by which offspring or new individuals are produced is known as reproduction. Normally insect reproduction is bisexual, is that the egg produced by the female will not develop until fertilized by the spermatozoa produced by the male. There are, however, some species that are able to reproduce by parthenogenesis, a form of asexual reproduction in which new individuals develop from an unfertilized egg (virgin birth). Some of these species alternate between sexual and asexual reproduction (not all generations produce males), while others are exclusively parthenogenetic (no males ever occur). TYPES OF REPRODUCTION: Mainly insect reproduction is two types-sexual reproduction and asexual reproduction. A. SEXUAL REPRODUCTION: Sexual reproduction is the normal type of reproduction of most of the insects which depends on the mating/copulation between two adults of opposite sexes and the female will lay fertilized eggs which hatch and give rise to new insects. Types of sexual reproduction: According to the oviposition of eggs, sexual reproduction is two types, A.1) Oviparity or Oviparous reproduction A.2) Viviparity or viviparous reproduction A.1) Oviparity: This is the most common sexual reproduction where the female lays fertilized eggs, which hatch after diposition. e.g. most of the insect are oviparous suck as cockroach, grasshopper.

Fig. Cockroach A.2) Viviparity: This is the exceptional type of sexual reproduction in which embryonic development is completed inside the body of the female parent. Instead of laying eggs, the egg hatch inside the body of the female and the young minute larvae crawl out through the genital opening. e.g. Aphid, tsetse fly.

Fig. Grasshopper

Fig. Aphid Types of viviparity: Four main types of viviparity are observed in different insect groups, with many of the specializations prevalent in various higher dipterans. A.2.1) Ovoviviparity, is a mode of reproduction in animals in which embryos develop inside eggs that are retained within the mother's body until they are ready to hatch. Ovoviviparous defer with viviparous reproduction in that there is no placental connection and the unborn young are nourished by egg yolk; the mother's body does provide gas exchange (respiration). The fully developed eggs hatch immediately after being laid or just prior to ejection from the females reproductive tract. This occurs in some cockroaches (Blattidae), some aphids and scale insects (Hemiptera)

Fig. Tsetse fly

Fig. Cockroach

Fig. Scale insect Fig. Aphid Chandra Kanta Dash Assistant Professor Department of Entomology Faculty of Agriculture Sylhet Agricultural University

A.2.2) Adenotrophic viviparity occurs when a poorly developed larva hatches and feeds orally from accessory (milk) gland secretions within the uterus of the mothers reproductive system. The full-grown larva is deposited and pupariates immediately. The dipteran Glossinidae (tsetse ies), Hippoboscidae (louse), and Streblidae (bat ies), demonstrate adenotrophic viviparity.

Fig. Louse fly Fig. Tsetse fly Fig. Bat fly A.2.3) Pseudoplacental viviparity- when a yolk-decient egg develops in the genital tract of the female, the mother provides a special placenta-like tissue, through which nutrients are transferred to developing embryos. This form of viviparity occurs in many aphids (Hemiptera), some earwigs (Dermaptera), a few psocids (Psocoptera).

Fig. Earwig Fig. Aphid Fig. Psocid A.2.4) Hemocoelous viviparity- a form of viviparity in which embryo develops freely in the females hemolymph, where nutrients are taken up by osmosis. This form of internal parasitism occurs only in Strepsiptera, in which the larvae exit through a brood canal, and in some gall midges (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae), where the larvae may consume the mother. B. ASEXUAL REPRODUCTION: Exceptional or special type of reproduction where young individual is produced from unfertilized eggs. Types of asexual reproduction: In insects mainly three types of asexual reproduction are found viz. parthenogenesis, paedogenesis and polyembryony. Descriptions are given belowB.1) PARTHENOGENESIS: When reproduction occurs without the help of male is called parthenogenesis. Eggs undergo full development without fertilization and give rise to new insects. Types of parthenogenesis: Sporadic parthenogenesis: It occurs occasionally in a species normally reproducing bisexually. Example-Silkworm moth. Constant parthenogenesis: Parthenogenesis is the normal mode of reproduction when males are excessively rare, is called constant parthenogenesis. Example-Stick insect. Cyclic parthenogenesis: When parthenogenesis and bisexual reproduction occur in a cyclic order is called cyclic parthenogenesis. In this case one or more parthenogenetic generation alternate with bisexual generation. Example-Aphid.

Fig. Ant Fig. Thrips Fig. Whitefly Arrhenotokous parthenogenesis: When unfertilized eggs give rise to male offspring only is called arrhenotokous parthenogenesis. Example-Hymenoptera (ants, wasps and bees). Thelytokous parthenogenesis: When unfertilized eggs give rise to female offspring only is called thelytokous parthenogenesis. Example- Stick insect (Phasmida) Amphitokous or deuterotokous parthenogenesis: When unfertilized eggs give rise to both male and female offspring is called amphitokous or deuterotokous parthenogenesis. Example-Aphid. Haploid parthenogenesis: In this case offspring contains half of the normal chromosome in their somatic cell. Example- Thrips (Thysanoptera) Diploid parthenogenesis: In this case offspring contains double of the normal chromosome in their somatic cell. Example-Whitefly (Trialeurodes vaporarium)

Fig. Sick insect

Fig. Aphid

B.2) PAEDOGENESIS: Some insects abbreviate their life cycles by loss of the adult stage, or even both adult and pupal stages. In this precocious stage, reproduction is almost exclusively by parthenogenesis. Larval pedogenesis, the production of young by the larval insect (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae); pupal pedogenesis, embryos are formed in the hemocoel of a pedogenetic mother-pupa, termed a hemipupa as it differs morphologically from the normal pupa. This production of live young in pupal pedogenetic insects also destroys the mother-pupa from within, either by larval perforation of the cuticle or by the eating of the mother by Fig. Gall midge the offspring (sporadically occurs in gall midges). B.3) POLYEMBRYONY: Production of more than one embryo from a single egg is called polyembryony. In this case an egg may devide mitotically and produce several embryos, each of which grows into an adult insect. Example-Braconidae, chalcidae, ichneumonidae etc.

Fig. Braconidae

Fig. Chalcidae

Fig. Ichneumonidae

Chandra Kanta Dash Assistant Professor Department of Entomology Faculty of Agriculture Sylhet Agricultural University Sylhet-3100, Bangladesh E-mail: Chandra.ento.sau@gmail.com Web: www.sylhetagrivarsity.edu.bd