Sex Allocation Strategies of Pseudo-Arrhenotokous Phytoseiid Mites by

AbstractModels of sex allocation conflict are central to evolutionary biology but have mostly assumed static decisions, where resource allocation strategies are constant over colony lifespan. Here, we develop a model to study how the evolution of dynamic resource allocation strategies is affected by the queen-worker conflict in annual eusocial insects. We demonstrate that the time of dispersal of sexuals affects the sex allocation ratio through sexual selection on males. Furthermore, our model provides three predictions that depart from established results of classic static allocation models. First, we find that the queen wins the sex allocation conflict, while the workers determine the maximum colony size and colony productivity. Second, male-biased sex allocation and protandry evolve if sexuals disperse directly after eclosion. Third, when workers are more related to new queens, then the proportional investment into queens is expected to be lower, which results from the interacting effect of sexual selection (selecting for protandry) and sex allocation conflict (selecting for earlier switch to producing sexuals). Overall, we find that colony ontogeny crucially affects the outcome of sex-allocation conflict because of the evolution of distinct colony growth phases, which decouples how queens and workers affect allocation decisions and can result in asymmetric control.

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What Fig Wasp Sex Ratios May or May Not Tell Us about Sex Allocation Strategies

Oikos ◽

10.2307/3546816 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 87 (3) ◽

pp. 520 ◽

Cited By ~ 41

Author(s):

Prarthana Kathuria ◽

Jaco M. Greeff ◽

Steve G. Compton ◽

K. N. Ganeshaiah

Keyword(s):

Sex Allocation ◽

Sex Ratios ◽

Fig Wasp ◽

Allocation Strategies

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The maleness of larger angiosperm flowers

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ◽

10.1073/pnas.1910631117 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 117 (20) ◽

pp. 10921-10926 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Gustavo Brant Paterno ◽

Carina Lima Silveira ◽

Johannes Kollmann ◽

Mark Westoby ◽

Carlos Roberto Fonseca

Keyword(s):

Sex Allocation ◽

Seed Set ◽

Limited Resource ◽

Male And Female ◽

Allocation Patterns ◽

Biomass Components ◽

Flower Evolution ◽

Primary Male ◽

Shed Light ◽

Allocation Strategies

Flower biomass varies widely across the angiosperms. Each plant species invests a given amount of biomass to construct its sex organs. A comparative understanding of how this limited resource is partitioned among primary (male and female structures) and secondary (petals and sepals) sexual organs on hermaphrodite species can shed light on general evolutionary processes behind flower evolution. Here, we use allometries relating different flower biomass components across species to test the existence of broad allocation patterns across the angiosperms. Based on a global dataset with flower biomass spanning five orders of magnitude, we show that heavier angiosperm flowers tend to be male-biased and invest strongly in petals to promote pollen export, while lighter flowers tend to be female-biased and invest more in sepals to insure their own seed set. This result demonstrates that larger flowers are not simple carbon copies of small ones, indicating that sexual selection via male–male competition is an important driver of flower biomass evolution and sex allocation strategies across angiosperms.

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An Evolutionary Ecological Approach to Sex Allocation and Sex Determination in Crustaceans

Reproductive Biology ◽

10.1093/oso/9780190688554.003.0007 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 177-196

Author(s):

Kota Sawada ◽

Sachi Yamaguchi

Keyword(s):

Sex Determination ◽

Sex Allocation ◽

Evolutionary Ecology ◽

Empirical Studies ◽

Ecological Approach ◽

Sexual Strategies ◽

Sexual Systems ◽

Mating Group ◽

Simultaneous Hermaphrodites ◽

Allocation Strategies

This chapter reviews sex determination and sex allocation strategies among crustaceans with different sexual systems (gonochorism, sequential and simultaneous hermaphroditism, and androdioecy), from the perspective of evolutionary ecology. The discussion includes genetic, environmental, and cytoplasmic sex determination in free-living and parasitic crustaceans, timing and frequency of sex change especially in partial protandry, the effects of mating group size on resource allocation by simultaneous hermaphrodites, and sex ratio and determination in androdioecious crustaceans. The fascinating diversity of crustacean reproduction stimulated theoretical biologists to construct models to explain them, and empirical biologists attempted to test hypotheses derived from those models. This review clearly shows that the interaction between theoretical and empirical studies has facilitated understanding of the evolutionary conditions of diverse sexual strategies among crustaceans. Since sexual strategies often interact with other aspects of adaptive strategies such as life history, integrating different aspects into both theoretical and empirical studies will provide further understandings into crustacean sexual systems. In addition, the authors point out the potential of phylogenetic comparative analyses using natural history data as a tool to understand the tempo and mode of evolution of sex allocation strategies.

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