An all-female species of beetle mite has proved to scientists that animals can survive without sex for a very long time. The Oppiella nova is barely one-fifth of a millimetre and represents what scientists call an “ancient asexual scandal”. It had been confusing the scientists for a long time how they were reproducing without having intercourse, which led them to perceive that the beetles were hiding away from their prying eyes. 

“There could be, for example, some kind of ‘cryptic’ sexual exchange that is not known. Or not yet know,” the first author of the study Dr Alexander Brandt told Euronews. “For example, very rarely a reproductive male could be produced after all – possibly even ‘by accident’.”

It was thought that animal species cannot survive long term without sexual reproduction up until now. 

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Scientists at the Universities of Cologne and Göttingen found out that Oppiella nova beetle mite has survived for thousands – maybe even millions – of years without having sex.

Having two parents ensures genetics get mixed to provide diversity, which means the two sets of genetic information we have remain very similar but there are differences in individuals. The diversity in genes promotes evolution and adaptation. 

However, in organisms that reproduce asexually, this ‘mixing’ doesn’t happen. Like in the case of these beetles, despite producing clones of themselves, genetic variations are still introduced and adapted to the environment by them. 

“’That may sound simple. But in practice, the Meselson effect has never been conclusively demonstrated in animals – until now,” says Prof. Tanja Schwander at the Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne.

While such a long term survival of a species is rare without sexual reproduction, study showed that it wasn’t impossible. However, the biologists and zoologists still are of the opinion that the tiny beetle could have some more intriguing surprise in store for them to understand evolution without sex.