Most
Lysiphlebus species are
haplodiploid, like other
Hymenoptera. However, all-female lineages are common in some
Lysiphlebus-taxa including
L. fabarum,
L. cardui and
L. confusus. In these
asexual lineages, females can reproduce by a
parthenogenetic mechanism, i.e.
thelytoky, that involves
automixis with central fusion. The
genetic system underlying
sex determination in
Lysiphlebus is "complementary sex determination", similar to the
cape honey bee (see ). Unlike honey bees, however, the
Lysiphlebus complementary sex determiner gene is thought to be present in multiple copies. Asexual females may occasionally produce
diploid males, which when mated with sexual females, can convert sexual into asexual lineages, a process which has been dubbed "contagious parthenogenesis". == Ecology ==