Mass killing by female soldier larvae is adaptive for the killed male larvae in a polyembryonic wasp.

ABSTRACT: Self-sacrifice is very rare among organisms. Here, we report a new and astonishing case of adaptive self-sacrifice in a polyembryonic parasitic wasp, Copidosoma floridanum. This wasp is unique in terms of its larval cloning and soldier larvae. Male clone larvae have been found to be killed by female soldier larvae, which suggests intersexual conflict between male and female larvae. However, we show here that mass killing is adaptive to all the killed males as well as the female soldiers that have conducted the killing because the killing increases their indirect fitness by promoting the reproduction of their clone sibs. We construct a simple model that shows that the optimal number of surviving males for both male and female larvae is very small but not zero. We then compare this predictio

SUBMITTER: Otsuki T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6517382 | biostudies-literature | 2019 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature