SEX-RATIO ADJUSTMENT WHEN RELATIVES INTERACT: A TEST OF CONSTRAINTS ON ADAPTATION

A haplodiploid mite adjusts fecundity and sex ratio in response to density changes during the reproductive period

Population density is one of the main socio-environmental factors that have critical impacts on reproduction of animals. Consequently, they need to adjust their reproductive strategies in response to changes of local population density. In this study we used a haplodiploid spider mite, Tetranychus ludeni Zacher (Acari: Tetranychidae), to test how population density dynamics during the reproductive period altered female reproductive performance. We demonstrate that females produced fewer eggs with a significantly higher female-biased sex ratio in dense populations. Reducing fecundity and increasing daughter production in a dense environment could be an advantageous strategy to minimise the intensity of local food competition. However, females also reduced their fecundity after arrival in a new site of larger area from a dense population, which may be associated with higher web production costs because females need to produce more webs to cover the larger area. There was no trade-off between egg number and size, and egg size had little impact on reproductive fitness. Therefore, T. ludeni females could adapt to the shift of population density during their reproductive period by manipulating the fecundity and offspring sex ratio but not the egg size.

Biology of the parasitoid Melittobia (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae)

As parasitoids upon solitary bees and wasps and their nest cohabitants, Melittobia have an intricate life history that involves both female cooperation and variably expressed male siblicidal conflict. Inter- and intrasexual dimorphism includes blind, flightless males and (probably nutritionally determined) short- and long-winged females. Thought to be highly inbred, Melittobia do not conform to local mate competition (LMC) theory but exhibit simple forms of many social insect traits, including overlapping adult generations, different female phenotypes, close kinship ties, parental care, and altruistic cooperative escape behaviors. Most host records and research findings are based on only 3 species--M. acasta, M. australica, and M. digitata--but any of the 12 species could have pest potential due to their polyphagy, explosive population growth, cryptic habits, and behavioral plasticity. Readily cultured in the laboratory, Melittobia offer considerable potential as a model for genetic, developmental, and behavioral studies.

Lethal combat and sex ratio evolution in a parasitoid wasp

Sex allocation theory provides excellent opportunities for testing how behavior and life histories are adjusted in response to environmental variation. One of the most successful areas from this respect is Hamilton's local mate competition theory. As predicted by theory, a large number of animal species have been shown to adjust their offspring sex ratios (proportion male) conditionally, laying less female-biased sex ratios as the number of females that lay eggs on a patch increases. However, recent studies have shown that this predicted pattern is not followed by 2 parasitoid species in the genus Melittobia, which always produce extremely female-biased sex ratios. A possible explanation for this is that males fight fatally and that males produced by the first female to lay eggs on a patch have a competitive advantage over later emerging males. This scenario would negate the advantage of later females producing a less female-biased sex ratio. Here we examine fatal fighting and sex ratio evolution in another species, Melittobia acasta. We show that females of this species also fail to adjust their offspring sex ratio in response to the number of females laying eggs on a patch. We then show that although earlier emerging males do have an advantage in winning fights, this advantage 1) can be reduced by an interaction with body size, with larger males more likely to win fights and 2) only holds for a brief period around the time at which the younger males emerge from their pupae. This suggests that lethal male combat cannot fully explain the lack of sex ratio shift observed in Melittobia species. We discuss alternative explanations.

Sex-specific sibling interactions and offspring fitness in vertebrates: patterns and implications for maternal sex ratios

Vertebrate sex ratios are notorious for their lack of fit to theoretical models, both with respect to the direction and the magnitude of the sex ratio adjustment. The reasons for this are likely to be linked to simplifying assumptions regarding vertebrate life histories. More specifically, if the sex ratio adjustment itself influences offspring fitness, due to sex-specific interactions among offspring, this could affect optimal sex ratios. A review of the literature suggests that sex-specific sibling interactions in vertebrates result from three major causes: (i) sex asymmetries in competitive ability, for example due to sexual dimorphism, (ii) sex-specific cooperation or helping, and (iii) sex asymmetries in non-competitive interactions, for example steroid leakage between fetuses. Incorporating sex-specific sibling interactions into a sex ratio model shows that they will affect maternal sex ratio strategies and, under some conditions, can repress other selection pressures for sex ratio adjustment. Furthermore, sex-specific interactions could also explain patterns of within-brood sex ratio (e.g. in relation to laying order). Failure to take sex-specific sibling interactions into account could partly explain the lack of sex ratio adjustment in accordance with theoretical expectations in vertebrates, and differences among taxa in sex-specific sibling interactions generate predictions for comparative and experimental studies.