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HIERARCHICAL SELECTION THEORY AND SEX RATIOS. II. ON APPLYING THE THEORY, AND A TEST WITH FIG WASPS
Author(s) -
Frank Steven A.
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
evolution
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.84
H-Index - 199
eISSN - 1558-5646
pISSN - 0014-3820
DOI - 10.1111/j.1558-5646.1985.tb00440.x
Subject(s) - biology , sex allocation , competition (biology) , selection (genetic algorithm) , sex ratio , inbreeding , evolutionary biology , statistics , ecology , mathematics , demography , computer science , population , artificial intelligence , pregnancy , genetics , sociology , offspring
Predictions from the theory of sex ratios in subdivided populations are tested by studying fig wasps (Agaonidae). Observations strongly support the qualitative prediction that fig wasp sex ratios (males/total) decrease with increasing amounts of both inbreeding and competition among male relatives for access to mates (local mate competition). However, the observed sex ratio is consistently lower than predicted by previous quantitative models. Many assumptions underlying these models are unrealistic. Each unrealistic assumption is discussed as it applies to fig wasps, and where appropriate, new quantitative predictions are derived based on more realistic assumptions. New predictions are compared to the data in an a posteriori fashion and are found to be much closer to the observations than previous models from the literature, but further work will be required before a close match between theory and observation can be claimed.