Use the scientific term parthenogenesis to describe an animal's asexual reproduction — in other words, the process of an embryo growing without being fertilized.
It's all the rage today, as scientists discover more and more animals that can reproduce from the female without help from the male. Many plants develop through parthenogenesis, as well as invertebrates, fish, reptiles, and insects. The roots of the word itself are Greek, and mean essentially "maiden borne," from parthenos, "virgin," and genesis, "origin."