question_answer 102)

  Honeybees produce their young ones only by sexual reproduction. Inspite of this, in a colony of bees we find both haploid and diploid individuals. Name the haploid and diploid individuals in the colony and analyze the reasons behind their formation.

Answer:

                  (i) Sterile diploid females as workers (ii) One fertile diploid female as queen (iii) Fertile haploid males as drones .In case of honeybees, both haploid and diploid individuals formed as a result of incomplete(cyclic) parthenogenesis, i.e., both sexual reproduction and parthenogenesis. Fertilized eggs (zygote) give rise to queen and workers (both are females) by the process of sexual reproduction and unfertilized eggs (ova) develop into drones (males) by the process of parthenogenesis.