[1] A. arizonae are identifiable by their brown and blue bodies with noticeable yellow stripes.

[citation needed] A. arizonae haploid unfertilized oocytes can undergo facultative parthenogenesis by a post-meiotic mechanism resulting in genome wide homozygosity.

[2] In many species that are capable of facultative parthenogenesis, the transition to the completely homozygous condition leads to exposure of the genetic load and results in embryonic mortality and an elevated rate of congenital malformations.

Despite this risk, in A. arizonae a small percentage of unfertilized oocytes are able to undergo parthenogenesis and develop normally.

Thus, in the case of A. arizonae, facultative parthenogenesis can potentially allow purifying selection to happen with the consequence that all lethal recessive alleles are purged in just one generation.