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Temperature and sex allocation in a spider mite

  • Behavioural Ecology
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Abstract

Although temperature is the most important environmental factor regulating arthropod development and reproduction, its influence on sex allocation in haplodiploid arthropods remains largely unexplored. We investigated under laboratory conditions how maternal age and temperature mediate offspring sex ratio of the spider mite Tetranychus mcdanieli (Acari: Tetranychidae). Over nine temperature regimes, female-biased sex ratios were consistently observed, varying from 57 to 87% among progeny produced over lifetime. Spider mite sex ratio was affected by maternal age: more male progeny were produced at both the beginning and the end of the female lifespan, yielding a dome shaped curvilinear relationship. This pattern of variation with age probably results from constraints on using sperm at young ages and sperm depletion or viability at older ages. We found a significant curvilinear relationship between temperature and sex ratio. The proportion of female offspring was lowest at intermediate temperatures and highest at extreme temperatures. We suggest that increased female-biased sex ratio at extreme temperatures is an evolutionary response of spider mites to deteriorating habitats as, in the Tetranychidae, females have better capacities than males to disperse and survive under harsh conditions.

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Acknowledgements

We thank I.C.W. Hardy and J.A. Rosenheim for valuable comments on various aspects of this manuscript; G. Daigle for his help in the statistical analyses; and M.C. Pépin and L. Laverdière for technical assistance. This work was supported by the Quebec Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Direction des services technologiques, Ministère de l'Agriculture, des Pêcheries et de l'Alimentation du Québec, 2700 rue Einstein, Sainte-Foy, Quebec, G1P 3W8, Canada

    Michèle Roy

  2. Centre de Recherche en Horticulture, Département de Phytologie, Université Laval, Sainte-Foy, Quebec, G1K 7P4, Canada

    Jacques Brodeur

  3. Centre de Recherche en Horticulture, Département de Biologie, Université Laval, Sainte-Foy, Quebec, G1K 7P4, Canada

    Conrad Cloutier

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  1. Michèle Roy
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  2. Jacques Brodeur
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  3. Conrad Cloutier
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Correspondence to Jacques Brodeur.

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Roy, M., Brodeur, J. & Cloutier, C. Temperature and sex allocation in a spider mite. Oecologia 135, 322–326 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-002-1160-9

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