The evolution of non-reproductive workers in insect colonies with haplodiploid genetics

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Abstract

Eusociality is a distinct form of biological organization. A key characteristic of advanced eusociality is the presence of non-reproductive workers. Why evolution should produce animals that sacrice their own reproductive potential in order to aid others is an important question in evolutionary biology. Here we provide a detailed analysis of the selective forces that determine the emergence and stability of non-reproductive workers. We study the effects, in situations where the queen of the colony has mated once or several times, of recessive and dominant sterility alleles acting in her offspring. Contrary to widespread belief based on heuristic arguments of genetic relatedness, non-reproductive workers can easily evolve in polyandrous species. The crucial quantity is the functional relationship between a colony's reproductive rate and the fraction of sterile workers present in that colony. We derive precise conditions for natural selection to favor the evolution of non-reproductive workers.

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Jason W Olejarz

Program for Evolutionary Dynamics, Harvard University, Cambridge, United States

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
Benjamin Allen

Department of Mathematics, Emmanuel College, Boston, United States

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
Carl Veller

Program for Evolutionary Dynamics, Harvard University, Cambridge, United States

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
Martin A Nowak

Program for Evolutionary Dynamics, Harvard University, Cambridge, United States

For correspondence
martin_nowak@harvard.edu

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

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This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.