Are there any animals that exclusively reproduce via parthenogenesis? If so, explain.
Answers
Parthenogenesis occurs naturally in some plants, some invertebrate animal species including nematodes, water fleas, some scorpions, aphids, some mites, some bees, some Phasmida and parasitic wasps and a few vertebrates such as some fish, amphibians, reptiles and very rarely birds
Normal egg cells form after meiosis and are haploid, . Haploid individuals, however, are usually non-viable, and parthenogenetic offspring usually have the diploid chromosome number. Depending on the mechanism involved in restoring the diploid number of chromosomes, parthenogenetic offspring may have anywhere between all and half of the mother's alleles.
Parthenogenetic offspring in species that use either the XY or the X0 sex-determination system have two X chromosomes and are female. In species that use the ZW sex-determination system, they have either two Z chromosomes (male) or two W chromosomes (mostly non-viable but rarely a female), or they could have one Z and one W chromosome (female).