Adactylidium
Adactylidium is a genus of mites. It is known for its short adult life cycle.[1] The pregnant female mite attaches herself to a single egg of a thrip.[2] She grows from five to eight female wikt:offspring and one male in her body. The offspring begin to eat their mother from the inside out.[3] The single male mite mates with all his sisters when they are still in the mother.[2] The females, now pregnant, cut holes in their mother's body. This is so that they can get out to find new thrips eggs.[2] The male gets out too. But having served his biological function he dies after a few hours.[2] The females die at the age of four days, when their own offspring eat them alive from the inside.
| Adactylidium | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | |
| Phylum: | |
| Class: | |
| Subclass: | |
| Order: | |
| Family: | |
| Genus: | Adactylidium Cross, 1965
|
References
- ↑ Stephen Jay Gould (1980). "Death Before Birth, or a Mite's Nunc Dimittis". The Panda's Thumb (book). Norton. pp. 69–75.
{{cite book}}: Text "The Panda's Thumb: More Reflections in Natural History" ignored (help) - ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Stephen Jay Gould, 'The Throwaway Male', New Scientist, Vol. 86, No. 1204 (Apr 24, 1980), p. 206
- ↑ T. B. Kirkwood & T. Cremer (1982). "Cytogerontology since 1881: a reappraisal of August Weismann and a review of modern progress" (PDF). Human Genetics. 60 (2): 101–121. doi:10.1007/BF00569695. PMID 7042533.