Abstract
In this paper, I summarise work at Macquarie University on aphid diversity in Australia, chromosome numbers, and chromosome behaviour during spermatogenesis and during sex determination in the aphid embryo. Much of this was inspired by Dr Roger Blackman, and some was done in direct collaboration with him. During the 1990s, the Macquarie group developed molecular techniques to investigate aphid population genetics and major questions such as the evolution of sex. These experiments built on the earlier work on aphid karyotypic races and the cytology of egg maturation and spermatogenesis. "From little things, big things grow".1
1 Title of song by Paul Kelly and Kev Carmody, first recorded in 1991.
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