Sexual selection on population-level mating opportunities drives morph ratios in a fig wasp with extreme male dimorphism.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Alternative mating tactics are widespread in animals and associated with extreme morphological polymorphism in some insects. Some fig wasps have both highly modified wingless males and dispersing winged males. Wingless males mate inside figs before females disperse, while winged males mate elsewhere after dispersal. Hamilton proposed a model for this system with morphs determined by alternative alleles. This has an equilibrium where the proportion of winged males equals the proportion of females dispersing unmated; i.e. the proportion of matings that they obtain. Previously, we have shown qualitative support for this prediction across nine wing-dimorphic fig wasp species. Here I test the quantitative prediction in the fig wasp Pseudidarnes minerva. In addition, some fig

SUBMITTER: Cook JM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8422632 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature