Genetic relatedness in primitively eusocial wasps

• Published in: Nature (London) 1989-11, Vol.342 (6247), p.268-270
• Main Authors: Strassmann, J.E, Hughes, C.R, Queller, D.C, Turillazzi, S, Cervo, R, Davis, S.K, Goodnight, K.F
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Ecology; Evolution; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; genetic markers; Genetics; Genetics of eukaryotes. Biological and molecular evolution; Humanities and Social Sciences; Hymenoptera; Insects; Invertebrata; letter; Mischocyttarus; multidisciplinary; Polistes; Population genetics, reproduction patterns; proteins; reproductive altruism; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Vespidae
• ISSN: 0028-0836; 1476-4687
• DOI: 10.1038/342268a0

Social insects are characterized by indirect reproduction, in which most individuals achieve genetic success by helping to rear the offspring of colony mates. The evolution of such systems is expected to be sensitive to the genetic relatedness of colony mates. In general, reproductive altrusim evolves most easily when relatedness is high, although it could be maintained under regimes of low relatedness after morphologically distinct castes have evolved. Most social insects belong to the order Hymenoptera, and are therefore haplodiploid (males haploid, females diploid); this genetic system may favour the evolution of altrusim because it makes rearing a full sister (r = 3/4) genetically more valuable than rearing one's own (r = 1/2). Here we report new estimates of relatedness from 14 species of polistine wasps lacking morphological castes. Female colony mates are often not full sisters and therefore seldom realize the full advantage made possible by haplodiploidy. But relatedness is always fairly high, in striking contrast to the situation in some species with morphological castes.