Halminton (1) was apparently the first to appreciate that the synthesis of Mendelian genetics with Darwin's theory of natural selection had profound implications for social theory. In particular, insofar as almost all social behavior is either selfish or altruistic (or has such effects), genetical reasoning suggests that an individual's social behavior should be adjusted to his or her degree of relatedness, r, to all individuals affected by the behavior. We call this theory kinship theory. The social insects provide a critical test of Hamilton's kinship theory. When such theory is combined with the sex ratio theory of Fisher (9), a body of consistent predictions emerges regarding the haplodiploid Hymenoptera. The evolution of female workers helping their mother reproduce is more likely in the Hymenoptera than in diploid groups, provided that such workers lay some of the male-producing eggs or bias the ratio of investment toward reproductive females. Once eusocial colonies appear, certain biases by sex in these colonies are expected to evolve. In general, but especially in eusocial ants, the ratio of investment should be biased in favor of females, and in it is expected to equilibrate at 1 : 3 (male to female). We present evidence from 20 species that the ratio of investment in monogynous ants is, indeed, about 1 : 3, and we subject this discovery to a series of tests. As expected, the slave-making ants produce a ratio of investment of 1 : 1, polygynoys ants produce many more males than expected on the basis of relative dry weight alone, solitary bees and wasps produce a ratio of investment near 1 : 1 (and no greater than 1 : 2), and the social bumblebees produce ratios of investment between 1 : 1 and 1 : 3. In addition, sex ratios in monogynous ants and in trapnested wasps are, as predicted by Fisher, inversely related to the relative cost in these species of producing a male instead of a female. Taken together, these data provide quantitative evidence in support of kinship theory, sex ratio theory, the assumption that the offspring is capable of acting counter to its parents' best interests, and the supposition that haplodiploidy has played a unique role in the evolution of the social insects. Finally, we outline a theory for the evolution of worker-queen conflict, a theory which explains the queen's advantage in competition over male-producing workers and the workers' advantage regarding the ratio of investment. The theory uses the asymmetries of haplodiploidy to explain how the evolved outcome of parent-offspring conflict in the social Hymenoptera is expected to be a function of certain social and life history parameters.

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/191/4224/249.full.pdf

Haploidploidy and the evolution of the social insect

The genus Antodynerus de Saussure, 1855 is reviewed from the Indian subcontinent Three species with one additional subspecies are present, namely Antodynerus flavescens flavescens (Fabricius, 1775), A f karachiensis Giordani Soika, 1970, A limbatus (de Saussure, 1852), and A punctatipennis (de Saussure, 1853) The parasitic association of strepsipteran insects and the symbiotic association of mites are reported for the first time in the genus Antodynerus The distribution of A f flavescens (Fabricius) and A limbatus (de Saussure) in the Indian states is augmented The latter species is newly recorded from China (Tibet) A key to species of the Indian subcontinent is provided

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A taxonomic review of the genus Antodynerus de Saussure, 1855 (Hymenoptera: Vespidae: Eumeninae) from the Indian subcontinent

Nests ( n=60 ) of a solitary mud-daubing wasp, Brachymenes dyscherus were conected at Fazenda Santa Carlota , Cajuru, Sao Paulo, Brazil in 1995 and 1996 . The multi-celled mud nests were constructed on the interior walls of abandoned houses in dry and shaded places. Nests were composed of 1 to 4 layers with cens constructed in two paralle! series. The number of cens per nest ranged from 3 to 62. Cells containing prey (larvae of Lepidoptera) numbered fram 4 to 29. B. dyscherus is a uniyoltine species. Adults emerge from September to December, and nesting talces place at the beginning of the following year; however, the developmental period for some immatures with proloFlged diapause l3.Sted up to 596 days. The total duration of immature stages

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A solitary mud-daubing wasp, Brachymenes dyscherus (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) fron Brazil with evidence of a life-cyde polyphenism

The nesting habits of Chalybion bengalense are described. Copulation takes place at the nesting site. For nesting, the female uses old nests of Sceliphron and various eumenids, preexisting holes, a...

The nesting habits of Chalybion bengalense (Dahlbom) (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae)

MALE hymenoptera are haploid and develop from unfertilized eggs, while females are diploid and the product of a fertilization. A female is inseminated early in her imaginal life and, at least in the Apocrita, subsequently exercises control over whether or not a sperm will be made available for a given egg. Most of the exploitations of the non-random production of the sexes seem to depend on this psychic capacity to determine whether a given egg will develop into a female or a male. Among solitary forms, male and female eggs are frequently laid in different situations. The three social groups produce very few males, all during a restricted period of the annual cycle. In the Symphyta and the “Parasitica”, the rarity of males may be further augmented by the evolution of thelytocous parthenogeneses, which also occur sporadically in the social forms. An excess of females has been assumed to be typical of the order because the females of the solitary bees and wasps produce few eggs (fifty-two is regarded as the record for such wasps1), and their elaborate maternal behaviour patterns would seem to expose them to dangers which the males can avoid. Recently, Hamilton2 has even suggested that because a female contributes twice as much genetic material to the Mendelian population as a male, a selection pressure exists to produce females preferentially.

H Spurway

Papers

Winter Diapause in the Squatter Wasps Antodynerus Flavescens (Fabr.) and Chalybion Bengalense (Dahlb.) (Vespoidea and Sphecoidea)