Aphid cloning - Battle of the Animal Sexes
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3. dariodexter commented 11 years ago
What did I just watch? o.O
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5. Thanny commented 11 years ago
It has nothing to do with variation for the species. There's no such thing as "for the good of the species" in nature. That's just a myth.
Each aphid is a machine built by aphid genes for producing more aphid genes. Mixing with other batches of aphid genes increases any one gene's odds of increasing in number, because a fresh mix of genes is more likely to be resistant to parasites. Sex versus parasitism is like changing the locks versus burglary.
The asexual reproduction phase is very much like somatic cells in a single organism replicating. Each individual aphid is unimportant, which is why you see virtually no anti-predation behavior. It's more economic to make a whole bunch more aphids than to power the intelligence required to avoid ladybugs and parasitic wasps.
Each aphid is a machine built by aphid genes for producing more aphid genes. Mixing with other batches of aphid genes increases any one gene's odds of increasing in number, because a fresh mix of genes is more likely to be resistant to parasites. Sex versus parasitism is like changing the locks versus burglary.
The asexual reproduction phase is very much like somatic cells in a single organism replicating. Each individual aphid is unimportant, which is why you see virtually no anti-predation behavior. It's more economic to make a whole bunch more aphids than to power the intelligence required to avoid ladybugs and parasitic wasps.
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7. dariodexter commented 11 years ago
Why was I thumbed down? I love bug videos (of course the ones with David Attenborough), but this one was kinda...weird and unsettling...
+13 1. librabooks commented 11 years ago