Explain haplodiploidy in Hymenoptera and its implications for kin selection.

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Multiple Choice

Explain haplodiploidy in Hymenoptera and its implications for kin selection.

Haplodiploidy in Hymenoptera means fertilized eggs develop into females (diploid), while unfertilized eggs become males (haploid). This sex-determination system creates a distinctive pattern of genetic relatedness within colonies: a daughter's genes come half from the mother and the entire set of her father’s genes, which is passed on to all of his daughters. As a result, sisters can be more closely related to each other than to their own offspring, especially when the queen mates with a single male, giving sisters about 0.75 relatedness to each other versus 0.5 to their own young. Under kin selection, this higher relatedness among sisters makes helping raise sisters more favorable in terms of inclusive fitness than producing one's own offspring, which helps explain why many Hymenoptera evolved worker castes that forego reproduction to assist relatives. The strength of this effect shifts with mating pattern: multiple matings decrease sisterly relatedness, but the basic idea remains that haplodiploid relatedness can promote cooperative, altruistic social behavior.

Haplodiploidy in Hymenoptera means fertilized eggs develop into females (diploid), while unfertilized eggs become males (haploid). This sex-determination system creates a distinctive pattern of genetic relatedness within colonies: a daughter's genes come half from the mother and the entire set of her father’s genes, which is passed on to all of his daughters. As a result, sisters can be more closely related to each other than to their own offspring, especially when the queen mates with a single male, giving sisters about 0.75 relatedness to each other versus 0.5 to their own young. Under kin selection, this higher relatedness among sisters makes helping raise sisters more favorable in terms of inclusive fitness than producing one's own offspring, which helps explain why many Hymenoptera evolved worker castes that forego reproduction to assist relatives. The strength of this effect shifts with mating pattern: multiple matings decrease sisterly relatedness, but the basic idea remains that haplodiploid relatedness can promote cooperative, altruistic social behavior.

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