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Evolution of worker policing.

Jason W Olejarz1, Benjamin Allen2, Carl Veller3

  • 1Program for Evolutionary Dynamics, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.

Journal of Theoretical Biology
|March 16, 2016
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Worker policing, where individuals eliminate rival male offspring, evolves under precise conditions. Mathematical analysis reveals that traditional relatedness arguments are sensitive to colony efficiency, impacting the evolution of policing in insect societies.

Keywords:
Evolutionary dynamicsModels/simulationsNatural selectionSociobiology

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Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary biology
  • Behavioral ecology
  • Population genetics

Background:

  • Worker policing, the killing of male eggs by other workers, is a common phenomenon in insect societies.
  • The evolution of worker policing is traditionally explained by relatedness asymmetry, suggesting it evolves when queens mate with multiple males.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To mathematically analyze the evolutionary dynamics of worker policing.
  • To investigate the selective forces driving policing for dominant and recessive mutations.
  • To determine the precise conditions for the invasion and stability of policing alleles.

Main Methods:

  • Mathematical modeling of evolutionary dynamics.
  • Population genetics approach to analyze dominant and recessive mutations.
  • Calculation of evolutionarily singular strategies and their stability.

Main Results:

  • The traditional relatedness-based argument for worker policing is not robust to small changes in colony efficiency.
  • Precise conditions for the invasion and stability of policing alleles were derived.
  • The analysis applies to mutations of any effect size.

Conclusions:

  • Worker policing evolution is more complex than previously thought, being sensitive to colony efficiency.
  • Mathematical modeling provides a robust framework for understanding the evolution of social behaviors like policing.
  • Further research should consider the impact of ecological factors on the evolution of social policing.