Vollet-Neto, Ayrton, Imperatriz-Fonseca, Vera L and Ratnieks, Francis L W (2019) Queen execution, diploid males, and selection for and against polyandry in the Brazilian stingless bee Scaptotrigona depilis. American Naturalist, 194 (5). pp. 725-735. ISSN 0003-0147

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Abstract

Female mating frequency varies. Determining the causes of this variation is an active research area. We tested the hypothesis that in stingless bees, Meliponini, singlemating is due to the execution of queens that make a matched mating at the complementary sex determination locus and have diploid male offspring. We studied the Brazilian species Scaptotrigona depilis. We made up 70 test colonies so that 50% (single matched mating), 25% (double mating), 12.5% (quadruple mating), or 0% (single nonmatched mating) of the emerging brood were diploidmales.Queen execution following diploidmale emergence was equal and high in colonies producing 50% (77% executed) and 25% (75%) diploid males versus equal and low in colonies producing 12.5% (7%) and 0% (0%) diploid males. These results show that queens that mate with two males with similar paternity suffer an increased chance of being executed, which selects against double mating. However, double mating with unequal paternity (e.g., 25∶75), which occasionally occurs in S. depilis, is selectively neutral. Single mating and double mating with unequal paternity form one adaptive peak. The results show a second adaptive peak at quadruple mating. However, this is inaccessible via gradual evolutionary change in a selective landscape with reduced fitness at double mating.

Item Type:	Article
Keywords:	evolution, behaviour, diploid male load, queen mating frequency, mating system evolution, twin adaptive peaks
Schools and Departments:	School of Life Sciences > Evolution, Behaviour and Environment
Research Centres and Groups:	Laboratory of Apiculture and Social Insects
Depositing User:	Francis Ratnieks
Date Deposited:	23 Jan 2020 10:11
Last Modified:	19 Sep 2020 01:00
URI:	http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/89481

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