Wolbachia as responsible for thelytoky in the dryinid wasps Gonatopus bonaerensis

What is it about?

We studied the occurrence of Wolbachia in this parasitoid. The dryinid hold Wolbachia endosymbiont (wRi strain), which seems to control the wasp’s reproduction in the nature turning it into thelytokous. The cure of infected unfertilized females determined the normal arrhenotokous parthenogenesis and the production of male offspring

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Why is it important?

As a consequence of this procedure, the male of G. bonaerensis is described for the first time.