The reproduction biology of Italian populations of the Phasmid Clonopsis gallica was studied. The reproduction always occurs by thelytokous parthenogenesis. No males were observed in nature or in the laboratory strains. The chromosome number was established to be 54-57 in embryonic cells and egg follicle epithelium. The number most frequently observed was 56 of which 34 appear subtelocentric and 22 metacentric or submetacentric. The longest chromosome, unequal and subtelocentric, shows a secondary constriction at the middle of the long arm. Only a part of chromosomes can be arranged in pairs on the basis of their length and centromere position. Following the Hughes-Schrader hypotesis on the ancestral Phasmid karyotype (2n ~ 36 in the female) Cl. gallica would be considered as a triploid. However the comparison of this karyotype with that of the most closely related species so far studied cytologically, Bacillus rossius, does not support this hypotesis. The cytological study of Cl. algerica, the amphigonic form more closely related to Cl. gallica, is expected to help to answer this problem.
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Con il contributo del Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali