What is a gamete?

Question

1. How many chromosomes does a jack-jumper ant's gamete carry?
2. How many chromosomes does a yellow fever mosquito's gamete carry?

Answer 1

A gamete is a reproductive cell that is used to create a zygote. In humans, these are sperm(s) and eggs. Gametes are half of the somatic cell ploidy (n), which tells us how many sets of chromosomes we have in a cell. Humans have 46 chromosomes (2n) and our gametes have 23 chromosomes (n).

1. Jack-jumper ants only have 1 pair of chromosomes, so their gamete will have 1 chromosome.
2. Yellow fever mosquitos have 3 pairs of chromosomes, so their gamete will have 3 chromosomes.