Abstract
Analyses a two-locus population-genetics model for the queen-workers conflict over the sex ratio in social Hymenoptera. The authors assume that the total number of reproductives and the proportion of females among them are both functions of a queen's trait α and of a workers' trait β, which are controlled by one locus each. The evolutionarily stable state can be of two kinds: 1) isolated points, in which the proportion of females is intermediate between 1/2 and 3/4 and the colony productivity is less than maximal, because of conflict between queen and workers; 2) a continuum of points, with a corresponding spread of female proportions, usually within [1/2, 3/4] but also, rarely, beyond this interval. At these points there is full agreement betweeen the two parties, and the colony productivity is accordingly maximal. -from Authors
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 276-312 |
| Number of pages | 37 |
| Journal | American Naturalist |
| Volume | 139 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 1992 |
| Externally published | Yes |