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Impacts of flight distance on sex ratio and resource allocation to offspring in the leafcutter bee, Megachile rotundata

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Abstract

Fisher's theoretical prediction of equal investment in each sex for a panmictic population (The genetical theory of natural selection. Clarendon, Oxford, 1930) can be altered by a number of factors. For example, the sex ratio theory predicts variation in equal investment in each sex when the maternal fitness gains from increased investment differ between sexes. Changing sex allocation because of changing payoffs may result from different ecological situations, such as foraging conditions. We investigated the impact of foraging travel cost on relative investment in sons vs daughters. Field studies were carried out with the central-place-foraging leafcutter bee Megachile rotundata (Fabricius), which has smaller males than females. Therefore, less investment is required to produce a viable son compared with a daughter. We found that with increased flight distance to resources, females produced a greater proportion of sons. Females also invested fewer resources in individual sons and daughters and produced fewer offspring with increased flight distance.

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Acknowledgements

We thank NSERC, Canada, for a scholarship to Jason Peterson and an operating grant to Bernard Roitberg. Thank you to our field assistant Gordon Peterson and our laboratory assistants Angela Mah and Mary Peterson. Larry Dill, Bob Lalonde, Brian Ma, Jen Perry, Mark Winston and two anonymous reviews made useful suggestions on earlier versions of this paper. When we carried out our experiments, we adhered to the legal requirements of Canada.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Behavioral Ecology Research Group, Department of Biology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, V5A 1S6, Canada

    Jason H. Peterson & Bernard D. Roitberg

  2. Department of Biology, The King's University College, 9125 50 Street, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, T6B 2H3

    J. H. Peterson

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  1. Jason H. Peterson
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  2. Bernard D. Roitberg
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  3. J. H. Peterson
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Correspondence to Jason H. Peterson.

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Communicated by R.F.A. Moritz

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Peterson, J.H., Roitberg, B.D. & Peterson, J.H. Impacts of flight distance on sex ratio and resource allocation to offspring in the leafcutter bee, Megachile rotundata . Behav Ecol Sociobiol 59, 589–596 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-005-0085-9

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