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Haplodiploidy and the evolution of eusociality : split sex ratios

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Gardner_2012_AmNat_Haplodiploidy.pdf (480.8Kb)
Date
02/2012
Author
Gardner, Andy
Alpedrinha, Joao
West, Stuart A.
Keywords
altruism
helping
inclusive fitness
kin selection
monogamy
sex allocation
alloparental care
Social insects
Hymenoptera
Relatedness
Behavior
Helpers
Origin
QH301 Biology
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Abstract
It is generally accepted that from a theoretical perspective, haplodiploidy should facilitate the evolution of eusociality. However, the "haplodiploidy hypothesis" rests on theoretical arguments that were made before recent advances in our empirical understanding of sex allocation and the route by which eusociality evolved. Here we show that several possible promoters of the haplodiploidy effect would have been unimportant on the route to eusociality, because they involve traits that evolved only after eusociality had become established. We then focus on two biological mechanisms that could have played a role: split sex ratios as a result of either queen virginity or queen replacement. We find that these mechanisms can lead haplodiploidy to facilitating the evolution of helping but that their importance varies from appreciable to negligible, depending on the assumptions. Furthermore, under certain conditions, haplodiploidy can even inhibit the evolution of helping. In contrast, we find that the level of promiscuity has a strong and consistently negative influence on selection for helping. Consequently, from a relatedness perspective, monogamy is likely to have been a more important driver of eusociality than the haplodiploidy effect.
Citation
Gardner , A , Alpedrinha , J & West , S A 2012 , ' Haplodiploidy and the evolution of eusociality : split sex ratios ' , American Naturalist , vol. 179 , no. 2 , pp. 240-256 . https://doi.org/10.1086/663683
Publication
American Naturalist
Status
Peer reviewed
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1086/663683
ISSN
0003-0147
Type
Journal article
Rights
Copyright 2011 by The University of Chicago
Description
The authors acknowledge Balliol College, the European Research Council, the Leverhulme Trust, the Royal Society, and the Programa Doutoral em Biologia Computacional–Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciencia/Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia (SFRH/BD/33206/2007) for funding.
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  • University of St Andrews Research
URL
http://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/journals/journal/an.html
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10023/5093

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