Are environmental factors responsible for geographic variation in the sex ratio of the Greenlandic seed-bug Nysius groenlandicus?

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Until recently nothing indicated an unequal sex ratio in the widespread Greenland seed-bug Nysius groenlandicus (Zetterstedt) (Heteroptera: Lygaeidae). However, recently populations more or less devoid of males were discovered in high arctic Northeast Greenland. This initiated an inspection of the entire material of the species collected in Greenland and now preserved at the Zoological Museum, University of Copenhagen. It was found that the sex ratio varied significantly among different locations. In most cases females were most abundant, but males were either scarce or absent only in samples from Northeast Greenland, indicating that here the species reproduces asexually. This paper demonstrates that the differing sex distributions can be explained by climatic factors (temperature, precipitation) and that the degree of continentality (distance from the open sea) promotes female-biased sex ratios.
Original languageEnglish
JournalEntomologia Experimentalis et Applicata
Volume134
Issue number2
Pages (from-to)122-130
Number of pages9
ISSN0013-8703
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2010

Bibliographical note

Author Keywords: Greenland; sex-distribution; parthenogenesis; Arctic; adaptation; climate; Heteroptera; Lygaeidae
KeyWords Plus: EAST GREENLAND; JAMESON LAND; PARTHENOGENESIS

ID: 18661063