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Female ambrosia beetles adjust their offspring sex ratio according to outbreeding opportunities for their sons
Author(s) -
Peer K.,
Taborsky M.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
journal of evolutionary biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.289
H-Index - 128
eISSN - 1420-9101
pISSN - 1010-061X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1420-9101.2003.00687.x
Subject(s) - outbreeding depression , biology , biological dispersal , haplodiploidy , mating , sex allocation , sex ratio , brood , competition (biology) , ecology , zoology , mating system , offspring , inbreeding , demography , population , pregnancy , sociology , genetics
Recent studies on the effect of local mate competition (LMC) on sex ratios have focused on the effect of post‐dispersal mating success by males. A higher proportion of males is expected to be produced as the potential for outbreeding increases. Here we demonstrate that males of a haplodiploid ambrosia beetle with LMC disperse to seek additional matings, and brood sex ratios increase with outbreeding opportunities in the field. Manipulations in the laboratory confirm that females produce more sons when the post‐dispersal mating prospects of their sons are experimentally increased. This is the first study showing that male dispersal options may influence individual female sex allocation decisions in species with strong LMC.