Females reproduce asexually for the most part, then in response to environmental cues they produce daughters that are capable of producing eggs by meiosis. These haploid eggs develop into males if they are not fertilized. The males produce haploid sperm that can fertilize other haploid eggs. These fertilized diploid embryos are enclosed in several protective layers and are referred to as resting eggs. Resting eggs can be dormant for many before hatching and developing into parthenogenetic females.
Males are degenerate, lacking functional organs other than the testis.
In class Bdelloidea, females are thought to reproduce asexually. Males have never been identified from this class. The seisonids reproduce sexually and the males are fully developed. Click HERE to go back to the Rotifer Biology project home page.