A1 Journal article (refereed)
The evolutionary dynamics of adaptive virginity, sex-allocation and altruistic helping in haplodiploid animals (2018)

Rautiala, P., Helanterä, H., & Puurtinen, M. (2018). The evolutionary dynamics of adaptive virginity, sex-allocation and altruistic helping in haplodiploid animals. Evolution, 72(1), 30-38. https://doi.org/10.1111/evo.13399

JYU authors or editors

Publication details

All authors or editors: Rautiala, Petri; Helanterä, Heikki; Puurtinen, Mikael

Journal or series: Evolution

ISSN: 0014-3820

eISSN: 1558-5646

Publication year: 2018

Volume: 72

Issue number: 1

Pages range: 30-38

Publisher: Wiley; Society for the Study of Evolution

Place of Publication: Chichester

Publication country: United States

Publication language: English

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/evo.13399

Research data link: https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.t585f

Publication open access: Not open

Publication channel open access: 

Publication is parallel published (JYX): https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/56811

Abstract

In haplodiploids, females can produce sons from unfertilized eggs without mating. However, virgin reproduction is usually considered to be a result of a failure to mate, rather than an adaptation. Here, we build an analytical model for evolution of virgin reproduction, sex‐allocation, and altruistic female helping in haplodiploid taxa. We show that when mating is costly (e.g., when mating increases predation risk), virginity can evolve as an adaptive female reproductive strategy. Furthermore, adaptive virginity results in strongly divergent sex‐ratios in mated and virgin queen nests (“split sex ratios”), which promotes the evolution of altruistic helping by daughters in mated queen nests. However, when helpers evolve to be efficient and increase nest production significantly, virgin reproduction is selected against. Our results suggest that adaptive virginity could have been an important stepping stone on the pathway to eusociality in haplodiploids. We further show that virginity can be an adaptive reproductive strategy also in primitively social haplodiploids if workers bias the sex ratio toward females. By remaining virgin, queens are free to produce sons, the more valuable sex in a female‐biased population. Our work brings a new dimension to the studies linking reproductive strategies with social evolution.

Keywords: reproduction (biology); reproductive behaviour

Free keywords: alternative reproduction strategies; mating behavior; reproductive altruism; split sex ratios; virgin reproduction

Contributing organizations

Related projects

Ministry reporting: Yes

Reporting Year: 2018

JUFO rating: 3