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Monogamy promotes altruistic sterility in insect societies
Nicholas G Davies1, Andy Gardner2
1London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
Royal Society Open Science
|June 13, 2018
Summary
Monogamy promotes altruistic worker sterility in social insects, supporting inclusive-fitness theory. This finding holds true even when considering intermediate genetic effects and broader ecological scenarios.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary Biology
- Behavioral Ecology
- Population Genetics
Background:
- Monogamy is linked to sibling-directed altruism across taxa.
- Inclusive-fitness theory predicts monogamy promotes altruism via high relatedness.
- Previous models found no consistent effect of monogamy on worker sterility.
Purpose of the Study:
- Revisit population-genetics analysis of monogamy's effect on worker sterility.
- Incorporate intermediate genetic effects and broader ecological scenarios.
- Clarify the role of monogamy in the evolution of social insect altruism.
Main Methods:
- Relaxed genetic assumptions to include intermediate sterility alleles.
- Broadened stability analysis to identify evolutionarily stable states.
- Considered diverse demographic and ecological scenarios relevant to eusociality.
Main Results:
- Monogamy consistently promotes altruistic worker sterility without genetic constraints.
- Monogamy may inhibit spiteful worker sterility.
- Extended analysis supports inclusive-fitness theory's predictions.
Conclusions:
- Population genetics strongly supports monogamy's role in promoting altruistic worker sterility.
- Monogamy is a key factor in the evolution of sibling-directed altruism in social insects.
- The study clarifies the evolutionary dynamics of worker sterility in eusocial insects.
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