In most ant, bee and wasp species, the queen (mother) reproduces with more than

Question

In most ant, bee and wasp species, the queen (mother) reproduces with more than 1 male. So how does this affect the relatedness between 2 daughters of a multi-mated queen? We will calculate below the relatedness between full and half sisters in a system where the queen mates with 2 males and one-half of her fertilized eggs are fertilized by each male Male 1 Queen Male 2 Focal ant Full sister Half sister To calculate the relatedness between the focal ant and her full sister or half sister, you need to add the relatedness through all the path between the 2 sisters. r between focal ant and full sister = r between focal ant and half sister average relatedness ofdaughters in the colony =

Explanation / Answer

Relatedness (r)= 1/2 x number of steps

r between focal ant and full sister:

= focal ant---queenxqueen----full sister

=1/2 x1/2

= 1/4

r between focal ant and half sister

= focal ant---queen x focal ant ----half sister

=1/2 x1/2

= 1/4

Average relatedness of daughters-

=(1/4 +1/4)/ 2=(1/2)/2 = 0.25

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