Cooperative interactions among females can lead to even more extraordinary sex ratios
Hamilton's local mate competition theory provided an explanation for extraordinary female-biased sex ratios in a range of organisms. When mating takes place locally, in structured populations, a female-biased sex ratio is favored to reduce competition between related males, and to provide more...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Journal article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2021
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| _version_ | 1826262482205802496 |
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| author | Iritani, R West, SA Abe, J |
| author_facet | Iritani, R West, SA Abe, J |
| author_sort | Iritani, R |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | Hamilton's local mate competition theory provided an explanation for extraordinary female-biased sex ratios in a range of organisms. When mating takes place locally, in structured populations, a female-biased sex ratio is favored to reduce competition between related males, and to provide more mates for males. However, there are a number of wasp species in which the sex ratios appear to more female biased than predicted by Hamilton's theory. It has been hypothesized that the additional female bias in these wasp species results from cooperative interactions between females. We investigated theoretically the extent to which cooperation between related females can interact with local mate competition to favor even more female-biased sex ratios. We found that (i) cooperation between females can lead to sex ratios that are more female biased than predicted by local competition theory alone, and (ii) sex ratios can be more female biased when the cooperation occurs from offspring to mothers before dispersal, rather than cooperation between siblings after dispersal. Our models formally confirm the verbal predictions made in previous experimental studies, which could be applied to a range of organisms. Specifically, cooperation can help explain sex ratio biases in <i>Sclerodermus</i> and <i>Melittobia</i> wasps, although quantitative comparisons between predictions and data suggest that some additional factors may be operating. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-06T19:36:52Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:1f5ab61e-e952-4b5e-8e53-8d7d3a6060da |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-06T19:36:52Z |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:1f5ab61e-e952-4b5e-8e53-8d7d3a6060da2022-03-26T11:21:22ZCooperative interactions among females can lead to even more extraordinary sex ratiosJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:1f5ab61e-e952-4b5e-8e53-8d7d3a6060daEnglishSymplectic ElementsWiley2021Iritani, RWest, SAAbe, JHamilton's local mate competition theory provided an explanation for extraordinary female-biased sex ratios in a range of organisms. When mating takes place locally, in structured populations, a female-biased sex ratio is favored to reduce competition between related males, and to provide more mates for males. However, there are a number of wasp species in which the sex ratios appear to more female biased than predicted by Hamilton's theory. It has been hypothesized that the additional female bias in these wasp species results from cooperative interactions between females. We investigated theoretically the extent to which cooperation between related females can interact with local mate competition to favor even more female-biased sex ratios. We found that (i) cooperation between females can lead to sex ratios that are more female biased than predicted by local competition theory alone, and (ii) sex ratios can be more female biased when the cooperation occurs from offspring to mothers before dispersal, rather than cooperation between siblings after dispersal. Our models formally confirm the verbal predictions made in previous experimental studies, which could be applied to a range of organisms. Specifically, cooperation can help explain sex ratio biases in <i>Sclerodermus</i> and <i>Melittobia</i> wasps, although quantitative comparisons between predictions and data suggest that some additional factors may be operating. |
| spellingShingle | Iritani, R West, SA Abe, J Cooperative interactions among females can lead to even more extraordinary sex ratios |
| title | Cooperative interactions among females can lead to even more extraordinary sex ratios |
| title_full | Cooperative interactions among females can lead to even more extraordinary sex ratios |
| title_fullStr | Cooperative interactions among females can lead to even more extraordinary sex ratios |
| title_full_unstemmed | Cooperative interactions among females can lead to even more extraordinary sex ratios |
| title_short | Cooperative interactions among females can lead to even more extraordinary sex ratios |
| title_sort | cooperative interactions among females can lead to even more extraordinary sex ratios |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT iritanir cooperativeinteractionsamongfemalescanleadtoevenmoreextraordinarysexratios AT westsa cooperativeinteractionsamongfemalescanleadtoevenmoreextraordinarysexratios AT abej cooperativeinteractionsamongfemalescanleadtoevenmoreextraordinarysexratios |