Patterns of sexual size dimorphism in stingless bees: Testing Rensch's rule and potential causes in highly eusocial bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae, Meliponini).

ABSTRACT: Eusocial insects offer a unique opportunity to analyze the evolution of body size differences between sexes in relation to social environment. The workers, being sterile females, are not subject to selection for reproductive function providing a natural control for parsing the effects of selection on reproductive function (i.e., sexual and fecundity selection) from other kinds of natural selection. Patterns of sexual size dimorphism (SSD) and testing of Rensch's rule controlling for phylogenetic effects were analyzed in the Meliponini or stingless bees. Theory predicts that queens may exhibit higher selection for fecundity in eusocial taxa, but contrary to this, we found mixed patterns of SSD in Meliponini. Non-Melipona species generally have a female-biased SSD, while all analyzed

SUBMITTER: Quezada-Euan JJG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6405504 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature