Could adult or juvenile dispersal shape geographical parthenogenesis? Evidence from the facultatively parthenogenetic phasmid Megacrania batesii

Despite their individual reproductive flexibility, populations of many facultatively parthenogenetic animals vary in sex ratio and reproductive mode. Sex-specific dispersal could contribute to such spatial variation. We asked if sex-specific dispersal by adults or nymphs occurs in the facultatively parthenogenetic phasmid Megacrania batesii, which forms a geographical mosaic of mixed-sex (mostly sexually reproducing) and all-female (parthenogenetic) populations. If sex-specific dispersal contributes to sex-ratio variation in this species, we would expect to observe greater dispersal by females than by males. We carried out a mark-resighting field study over three years to investigate adult dispersal in mixed-sex and all-female populations. To better understand how males affect female behaviour, we also investigated pairing and mate-guarding. In addition, we investigated dispersal by hatchling nymphs in a semi-natural enclosure. Mean nightly movement distances did not diff..., Mark-resighting methodology
Within each population, we used a mark-resighting method to track movements of Megacrania batesii adults (and a few final-instar female nymphs). Individuals were marked on the first day of the study each year, and additional unmarked individuals were marked on subsequent days. Resighting data were collected either daily or every other day, starting on the 2nd or 3rd day of the study. Newly sighted individuals were marked with unique codes on their thorax and/or wings. using black permanent marker (Artline xylene-free permanent marker, Shachihata, Japan) in situ on their host plants, without handling or restraining them. Host plants on which Megacrania batesii individuals were marked or resighted were tagged with numbered plastic tags. Both males and females can spray a defensive fluid when disturbed (Cermak and Hasenpusch 2000; Jones and Bulbert 2020), which can complicate marking by depositing moisture on the thorax. If a spraying response occurred, we waite..., , # Data from \"Could adult or juvenile dispersal shape geographical parthenogenesis? Evidence from the facultatively parthenogenetic phasmid *Megacrania batesii*\".

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.zkh1893jv](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.zkh1893jv)

#### File: Individual\_summary\_publication.csv

**Description:** Individual summary table while excluding male removal experiment 

##### Variables

* year: The year (y) in which field study conducted.
* pop_type: Whether the population is mixed-sex or all-female.
* ind_id: The unique individual ID of each focal individual (i.e., each individual that was marked).
* sex: The sex of the focal individual, represented as F for female and M for male.
* status: The pairing status, whether the individual is found 'paired' or 'unpaired' on each visit.
* Count: Total number of sightings for the focal individual including first observation. Individuals observed both paired and unpaired are listed twice, with the number of observations for each status sh...,