Dissertation Research: Ecologial Constraints and Relatedness Asymmetries in Augochlorella striata (Halictidae: Hymenoptera)

与在副社会性蜂群(不存在关联性不对称)中的工蚁相比，在真社会性膜翅目蜂群(存在关联性不对称)中的工蚁更倾向于女性偏向的性别比。对原始的真社会性汗蜂Augochlorella striata进行的实验，将蜂群随机分配到真社会性和副社会性条件下，证实了在真社会性群体中预测的雌性偏见，但无法检验雄性工蜂在非社会性群体中的繁殖率高于真社会性群体中的工蜂繁殖力的假设。通过遗传分析确定男性的孕期是检验这一假设的关键。这项研究将涉及对实验巢的繁殖者、工蚁和雄性进行基因指纹识别，以比较共生和准社群中雄蚁的工蚁繁殖。由于男性的孤雌生殖，男性指纹中的所有条带也必须出现在他母亲的指纹中。因此，可以通过将男性的指纹与假定的母亲(例如，女创始人和工人)的指纹进行匹配来确定男性的母亲。如果来自基因指纹的证据反驳了工作者繁殖的假说，那么来自单倍体的关联不对称仍然是观察到的性别比调整的唯一解释。这将意味着，条斑潜蝇的社会行为不仅是对限制生殖选择的生态限制的反应，而且与性别决定的单倍体系统固有的遗传变量(相关不对称)有关。

Workers in eusocial Hymenoptera colonies (relatedness asymmetry present) are predicted to favor a more female-biased sex-ratio as compared to the sex-ratio favored by workers in parasocial colonies (relatedness asymmetry absent). Experiments on the primitively eusocial sweat bee Augochlorella striata, with random assignment of colonies to a eusocial and parasocial condition confirmed the predicted female-bias in eusocial colonies, but were unable to test the hypothesis that worker reproduction of males is greater in parasocial than in eusocial colonies. The determination of maternity of males by means of a genetic analysis is essential to test this hypothesis. This study will involve genetically fingerprinting reproductives, workers, and male sexuals of the experimental nests in order to compare worker reproduction of males in eusocial and parasocial colonies. Because of parthenogenetic production of males, all bands in a fingerprint of a male must also be present in the fingerprint of his mother. Maternity of males can therefore be determined by matching fingerprints of males to fingerprints of putative mothers (e.g. foundresses and workers). If evidence from genetic fingerprinting refutes the hypothesis of worker reproduction, relatedness asymmetries deriving from haplodiploidy remain as the only explanation of the observed sex-ratio adjustments. This would imply that social behavior in A. striata evolved not only in response to ecological constraints limiting reproductive options, but also in relation to genetic variables (relatedness asymmetries) intrinsic to the haplodiploid system of sex-determination.