Difference between sexual and asexual spore This Wikipedia article on Spores mentions this: > In biology, a spore is a unit of sexual or asexual reproduction that may be adapted for .... What is the difference between the _sexual spore_ and _asexual spore_? Are they any different on basis of formation, diploid or haploid, role in life cycle? By _Sexual Spores_ , I mean the spores that arise in the sexual reproduction process and similarly for _Asexual Spores_ , i.e. spores which arise in asexual reproduction process. To add to the context, this image shows the Sexual and Asexual spores in a certain fungi (Mycelium) life cycle. ![Sexual and Asexual spores in Fungi Mycelium](

In the same wikipedia page of spores you cited, you can find that they have said:

> Fungi commonly produce spores, as a result of sexual, or asexual, reproduction. Spores are usually haploid..

Again,

> Vascular plant spores are always haploid.

So, sexual and asexual spores have no difference in ploidy- both are **haploid**. (There are exceptions- zygospores in fungi are diploid) Now, coming to mode of formation, they are different. For example, in Ascomycetes, sexual _ascospores_ are produced endogenously whereas asexual _conidiospores_ are produced exogenously.

Spores that are formed by the process of **meiosis** are sexual spores and when formed from mitosis are asexual. The term 'sexual' means meiosis is involved.