In which animal do haploid cells divide mitotically to produce gametes?

Question

Accepted Answer

A. 1. **Recall the unusual sex determination system in honeybees**: in honeybees, males (drones) develop from unfertilized eggs and are **haploid**, while females (queens and workers) develop from fertilized eggs and are **diploid**.

2. **Understand how each sex produces gametes**: since the female honeybee is diploid, she must reduce her chromosome number by half to form gametes, so she uses **meiosis**.
Given this,
$$
	ext{Female honeybee (diploid)} \xrightarrow{	ext{Meiosis}} 	ext{Haploid gametes}
$$

3. **Consider the male honeybee's situation**: since the male is already haploid, he cannot undergo meiosis (which requires a diploid starting cell to halve the chromosome number); instead, his haploid cells divide by simple **mitosis** to directly produce haploid gametes (sperm).
Therefore,
$$
	ext{Male honeybee (already haploid)} \xrightarrow{	ext{Mitosis}} 	ext{Haploid gametes}
$$

4. **Eliminate the other options**: male earthworms, male frogs, and male grasshoppers are all diploid organisms and produce gametes through the standard process of meiosis, not mitosis.

Hence, the correct answer is **A. Male honeybees**.