FEMALE OF THE SPECIES: WARRAMABA VIRGO

Lucy Cooke on the female army that captured Australia by giving up sex

- Lucy Cooke

AN ARMY OF GRASSHOPPERS HAS taken over Australia. Marching across the continent from west to east they've conquered new lands faster than rival species. The secret to their success? They've given up sex. Warramaba virgo, the matchstick grasshopper, is an all-female species. There are no males in existence. Where most animals have two sexes that combine their genes when they reproduce, this species has evolved to cheat this fundamental process. Instead it reproduces solely by cloning (an egg can develop into an embryo without fertilisation).