Facultative Sex Ratio Adjustment in Natural Populations of Wasps: Cues of Local Mate Competition and the Precision of Adaptation

Burton-Chellew, Maxwell N.; Koevoets, Tosca; Grillenberger, B. K.; Sykes, Edward M.; Underwood, Sarah; Bijlsma, Kuke; Gadau, Juergen; Zande, Louis van de; Beukeboom, Leo W.; West, Stuart A.; Shuker, David M.

doi:10.1086/589895

Cited by 65 publications

(67 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…Female N. vitripennis allocate sex closely in accordance with LMC theory [7,21,22]. Importantly, the patterns of sex allocation revealed in laboratory studies have been replicated in the field [23,24]. As with many parasitoids, they take nectar in the wild and commonly feed on sucrose solutions in the laboratory [25].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 73%

Sex allocation theory reveals a hidden cost of neonicotinoid exposure in a parasitoid wasp

et al. 2015

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Sex allocation theory has proved to be one the most successful theories in evolutionary ecology. However, its role in more applied aspects of ecology has been limited. Here we show how sex allocation theory helps uncover an otherwise hidden cost of neonicotinoid exposure in the parasitoid wasp Nasonia vitripennis. Female N. vitripennis allocate the sex of their offspring in line with Local Mate Competition (LMC) theory. Neonicotinoids are an economically important class of insecticides, but their deployment remains controversial, with evidence linking them to the decline of beneficial species. We demonstrate for the first time to our knowledge, that neonicotinoids disrupt the crucial reproductive behaviour of facultative sex allocation at sub-lethal, field-relevant doses in N. vitripennis. The quantitative predictions we can make from LMC theory show that females exposed to neonicotinoids are less able to allocate sex optimally and that this failure imposes a significant fitness cost. Our work highlights that understanding the ecological consequences of neonicotinoid deployment requires not just measures of mortality or even fecundity reduction among non-target species, but also measures that capture broader fitness costs, in this case offspring sex allocation. Our work also highlights new avenues for exploring how females obtain information when allocating sex under LMC.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 73%

Sex allocation theory reveals a hidden cost of neonicotinoid exposure in a parasitoid wasp

et al. 2015

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“…This prediction has been supported by many empirical studies, and has become one of the greatest successes in evolutionary biology [3]. Adaptive sex-ratio adjustments in response to environmental conditions have been observed in a variety of species, including vertebrates, invertebrates and plants [2].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 79%

Sex-ratio adjustment in response to local mate competition is achieved through an alteration of egg size in a haplodiploid spider mite

et al. 2012

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Sex-ratio adjustments are commonly observed in haplodiploid species. However, the underlying proximate mechanisms remain elusive. We investigated these mechanisms in Tetranychus urticae, a haplodiploid spider mite known to adjust sex ratio in response to the level of local mate competition (LMC). In this species, egg size determines fertilization probability, with larger eggs being more likely to be fertilized, and thus become female. We explored the hypothesis that sex-ratio adjustment is achieved through adjustment of egg size. By using spider mites from a large population, we found that females produced not only a higher proportion of daughters under high levels of LMC, but also larger eggs. Moreover, in populations experimentally evolving under varying levels of LMC, both the proportion of females and the egg size increased with LMC intensity. These results suggest that sex-ratio adjustment in spider mites is mediated by egg size, although the causal relationship remains to be tested.

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“…Intraspecific N. vitripennis map: An initial screen of a number of different field strains for genetic variation (Pannebakker et al, 2008) provided two strains that showed allelic differences in a large number of loci: C222a (collected in 2003 by LW Beukeboom) and HV6 (collected in 2004 by T Koevoets, MN Burton-Chellew, and EM Sykes; for collection details see Burton-Chellew et al (2008)). Both strains originated from De Hoge Veluwe in the Netherlands and were set up and maintained as iso-female lines (that is started as a line from a single mated female).…”

Section: Mapping Populations and Marker Genotypingmentioning

confidence: 99%

A comparison of recombination frequencies in intraspecific versus interspecific mapping populations of Nasonia

et al. 2010

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We present the first intraspecific linkage map for Nasonia vitripennis based on molecular markers. The map consists of 36 new microsatellite markers, extracted from the Nasonia genome sequence, and spans 515 cM. The five inferred linkage groups correspond to the five chromosomes of Nasonia.Comparison of recombination frequencies of the marker intervals spread over the whole genome (N ¼ 33 marker intervals) between the intraspecific N. vitripennis map and an interspecific N. vitripennis Â N. giraulti map revealed a slightly higher (1.8%) recombination frequency in the intraspecific cross. We further considered an N. vitripennis Â N. longicornis map with 29 microsatellite markers spanning 430 cM. Recombination frequencies in the two interspecific crosses differed neither between reciprocal crosses nor between mapping populations of embryos and adults. No major chromosomal rearrangements were found for the analyzed genomic segments. The observed differential F 2 hybrid male mortality has no significant effect on the genome-wide recombination frequency in Nasonia. We conclude that interspecific crosses between the different Nasonia species, a hallmark of Nasonia genetics, are generally suitable for mapping quantitative and qualitative trait loci for species differences.

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Facultative Sex Ratio Adjustment in Natural Populations of Wasps: Cues of Local Mate Competition and the Precision of Adaptation

Abstract: Facultative sex ratio adjustment in natural populations of wasps Burton-Chellew, M.N.; Koevoets, T.; Grillenberger, Bernd; Sykes, E.M.; Underwood, S.L.; Bijlsma, K.; Gadau, J.; Jacobus Mgn Van De Zande, Louis; Beukeboom, Leonardus; West, S.A.

Cited by 65 publications

References 52 publications

Sex allocation theory reveals a hidden cost of neonicotinoid exposure in a parasitoid wasp

Sex allocation theory reveals a hidden cost of neonicotinoid exposure in a parasitoid wasp

Sex-ratio adjustment in response to local mate competition is achieved through an alteration of egg size in a haplodiploid spider mite

A comparison of recombination frequencies in intraspecific versus interspecific mapping populations of Nasonia

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