Parthenogenesis in the Tribe Naupactini (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)

Twenty-eight species of Naupactini have at least some populations that appear to reproduce parthenogenetically. For most of these species, parthenogenesis is inferred from the absence of males; in 3 species it has been corroborated by evidence of polyploidy, and in 2 others it has been confirmed by rearing experiments. Several independent lineages of Naupactini have lost their metathoracic wings, and it is only within these lineages that parthenogenesis has arisen. Several clades within the tribe consist largely of parthenogenetic species but some of them also include sexual populations. Although Naupactini range throughout most of the New World with their highest species diversity in the tropics, all the parthenogenetic lineages are native to the subtropical and temperate areas of southern South America with their highest diversity and abundance in the Pampas.