Final answer:
Female hymenopterans develop from fertilized, diploid eggs, whereas males develop from unfertilized, haploid eggs due to the haplodiploidy sex determination system, where unfertilized eggs undergo parthenogenesis. A well-known example is the honeybee colony, where the queen determines the sex of her offspring.
Step-by-step explanation:
Female hymenopterans, such as ants, bees, and wasps, grow from fertilized eggs and are therefore diploid, meaning they have two sets of chromosomes, one from each parent. In contrast, male hymenopterans develop from unfertilized eggs and are haploid, possessing only a single set of chromosomes from the mother. This type of sex determination system is known as haplodiploidy, where unfertilized eggs undergo parthenogenesis to develop into males, and fertilized eggs develop into females.
In the case of honeybees, which are a prime example of haplodiploid species, the queen has control over the sex of her offspring by choosing whether to fertilize the egg or not. Eggs that remain unfertilized become male drones, while the fertilized eggs can develop into either worker bees or, if fed royal jelly, a new queen. This reproductive strategy is advantageous for the colony structure and allows a single female to produce both male and female offspring.