Effect of local mate competition on fig wasp sex ratios

Pereira, Rodrigo Augusto Santinelo; Prado, Angelo Pires do

doi:10.1590/s1519-69842006000400004

Cited by 9 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…Consequently the clutch size of each foundress decreased, as also noted by Moore et al (2005), Raja et al (in press) for L. tentacularis, and by Kathuria et al (1999) for Eupristina belagaumensis in india. Our results show that the sex ratio produced by a foundress becomes more female-biased as they oviposit more eggs, in agreement with Herre (1987), and that superparasitized syconia have a greater proportion of sons in their broods, as found by Molbo & Parker (1996) for N. vitripennis, and by Pereira & Prado (2006) for P. tonduzi. Thus the sex ratio adjustments between foundresses were apparently not caused by the number of males produced as also noted by Raja et al (in press), or by environmental predictability and mechanistic cues, as supported by West and Sheldon (2002) and West et al (2005).…”

Section: Total Males Females and Seeds Per Syconiumsupporting

confidence: 89%

“…The sex ratio (7.65) found for one foundress of P. silvestrii was similar to those reported for other fig wasps species (Grandi 1920, Condit 1947, Joseph 1958, Galil & Eisikowitch 1971, Hamilton 1979, West et al 1996, West & Herre 1998, Pereira & Prado 2006, Zavodna et al (2005 and not very different from that (8.7) reported by Werren (1980) for N. vitripennis (Pteromalidae). The sex ratio for P. tonduzi was 6.57, similar to the 6.9 reported in West et al (1997, Table 11).…”

Section: Males Per Foundress and Sex Allocationsupporting

confidence: 85%

“…Multiple fig wasp foundress broods generally showed more females than the unadjusted model predicted (Hamilton 1979, Frank 1983b, cited by Herre et al 1989, Kinoshita et al 2002 and references therein), and the observed sex ratios are too low or more female-biased to be accounted by the theory (Hartl 1971, Pereira & Prado 2006. Broods that contained exceptionally high proportions of males (0.5-1) have been attributed to spermdepleted or virgin females (West & Herre 1998 and references therein, Pereira & Prado 2006). However, pure or almost pure male clutches may be also produced when many foundresses (5+) oviposit simultaneously in a one-foundress syconium (Ramírez-Benavides, pers.…”

Section: Biology Of the Fig Waspsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Sex ratio in two species of Pegoscapus wasps (Hymenoptera: Agaonidae) that develop in figs: can wasps do mathematics, or play sex ratio games?

Ramírez-Benavides¹,

Mónge-Nájera²,

Chavarría³

2007

RBT

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The fig pollinating wasps (Hymenoptera: Agaonidae) have obligate arrhenotoky and a breeding structure that fits local mate competition (LMC). it has been traditionally assumed that LMC organisms adjust the sex ratio by laying a greater proportion of male eggs when there is superparasitism (several foundresses in a host). We tested the assumption with two wasp species, Pegoscapus silvestrii, pollinator of Ficus pertusa and Pegoscapus tonduzi, pollinator of Ficus eximia (= F. citrifolia), in the Central Valley of Costa Rica. Total number of wasps and seeds were recorded in individual isolated naturally colonized syconia. There was a constant additive effect between the number of foundresses and the number of males produced in the brood of a syconium, while the number of females decreased. Both wasp species seem to have precise sex ratios and probably lay the male eggs first in the sequence, independently of superparasitism and clutch size: consequently, they have a non-random sex allocation. Each syconium of Ficus pertusa and of F. eximia colonized by one foundress had similar mean numbers of females, males, and seeds. The two species of wasps studied do not seem to adjust the sex ratio when there is superparasitism. Pollinating fig wasp behavior is better explained by those models not assuming that females do mathematical calculations according to other females' sex ratios, size, number of foundresses, genetic constitution, clutch size or environmental conditions inside the syconium. Our results are in agreement with the constant male number hypothesis, not with sex ratio games. Rev. Biol. Trop. 57 (3): 605-621. Epub 2009 September 30.

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Section: Total Males Females and Seeds Per Syconiumsupporting

confidence: 89%

Section: Males Per Foundress and Sex Allocationsupporting

confidence: 85%

Section: Biology Of the Fig Waspsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Sex ratio in two species of Pegoscapus wasps (Hymenoptera: Agaonidae) that develop in figs: can wasps do mathematics, or play sex ratio games?

Ramírez-Benavides¹,

Mónge-Nájera²,

Chavarría³

2007

RBT

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“…Another explanation of sex ratio adjustment under LMC is foundress density affecting probability of ovipositing a son and that probability being independent of order. Foundresses may adjust their offspring sex ratios by the information of other foundresses or of oviposition in a patch left by other foundresses (Hamilton, 1967, 1979; Herre, 1985, 1987; Kinoshita et al , 2002; Moore et al , 2002; Pereira & Prado, 2006; Herre et al , 2008; Abe et al , 2009; Somjee et al , 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pollinating fig wasp Ceratosolen solmsi adjusts the offspring sex ratio to other foundresses

Chen

Jiang

et al. 2012

Insect Science

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Local mate competition theory predicts that offspring sex ratio in pollinating fig wasps is female-biased when there is only one foundress, and increased foundress density results in increased offspring sex ratio. Information of other foundresses and clutch size have been suggested to be the main proximate explanations for sex ratio adjustment under local mate competition. Our focus was to show the mechanism of sex ratio adjustment in a pollinating fig wasp, Ceratosolen solmsi Mayr, an obligate pollinator of the functionally dioecious fig, Ficus hispida Linn., with controlled experiments in the field. First, we obtained offspring from one pollinator and offspring at different oviposition sequences, and found that offspring sex ratio decreased with clutch size, and pollinators produced most of their male offspring at the start of bouts, followed by mostly females. Second, we found that offspring sex ratio increased with foundress density, and pollinators did adjust their offspring sex ratio to other females in the oviposition patches. We suggest that when oviposition sites are not limited, pollinators will mainly adjust their offspring sex ratio to other foundresses independent of clutch size changes, whereas adjusting clutch size may be used to adjust sex ratio when oviposition sites are limited.

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“…It has been reported that pollinators can re‐emerge after pollination/oviposition (Grandi, 1920; Galil & Neeman, 1977; Gibernau et al , 1996; Herre, et al , 1996; Kinoshita et al , 1998; Pereira et al , 2000; Chen et al , 2001; Molbo et al ; 2003; Moore et al , 2003; Kjellberg et al , 2005; Pereira & Prado, 2006; Zavodna et al , 2007; Raja et al , 2008). Re‐emergence is prevalent and re‐emergence rates are different among figs in different fig subgenus', or between monoecious and functional dioecious figs (Moore et al , 2003).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Permeability of receptive fig fruits and its effects on the re‐emergence behaviour of pollinators

Niu

et al. 2010

Ecological Entomology

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1. Figs and pollinating fig wasps provide a model system for studying mutualism. The permeability of the syconium changes during receptivity or between seasons, which may affect the behaviour of pollinators. Fig fruits are permeable during receptivity, and in some species, pollinators can enter and re-emerge after oviposition/pollination. We studied the relationship between fig permeability and pollinator re-emergence behaviour with a functional dioecious fig, Ficus hispida and the obligate pollinator Ceratosolen solmsi marchali. 2. The relationship reflects the interaction of figs and pollinators in the mutualism and also the conflicts of interests between the two partners: figs benefit from the enclosed fig fruits which have low permeability, but pollinators benefit from their re-emergence behaviour, which requires high fig permeability.3. The results showed that at the end of receptivity, the permeability of fig fruits lowered rapidly with changes to the ostiole structures, and re-emergence rate was low, with more re-emerging pollinators trapped in the ostiolar bracts. Our results also showed that in the rainy season, the length of receptivity was shorter and fig permeability was lower. The re-emergence rates were also lower than those in the dry season. The results elucidated that figs' interests dominated in the conflicts between fig and pollinating wasp.4. Based on a new criteria which employed the classification of pollinators found dead in the ostiolar bracts and which involved a survey of 6 monoecious and 12 dioecious fig species, we found that re-emergence behaviour was prevalent among fig species, and was more prevalent in functional dioecious figs than monoecious ones.

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Effect of local mate competition on fig wasp sex ratios

Cited by 9 publications

References 35 publications

Sex ratio in two species of Pegoscapus wasps (Hymenoptera: Agaonidae) that develop in figs: can wasps do mathematics, or play sex ratio games?

Sex ratio in two species of Pegoscapus wasps (Hymenoptera: Agaonidae) that develop in figs: can wasps do mathematics, or play sex ratio games?

Pollinating fig wasp Ceratosolen solmsi adjusts the offspring sex ratio to other foundresses

Permeability of receptive fig fruits and its effects on the re‐emergence behaviour of pollinators

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