Fig. 5

Scheme of the life cycle of Polyandrocarpa zorritensis. The adult zooid emits a vascular stolon, along which the ampullae accumulate to form the budding nest. The nest can endure to two different fates: if transferred to low temperature (e.g., 11 °C), it forms a dormant spherule able to develop into a new zooid once transferred to higher temperature; if kept at 24 °C, abscission occurs along the stolon and the nest goes through vasal budding forming a new zooid. In both cases a new zooid able to produce stolons is formed, repeating the cycle and expanding the colony