Fisher's theory of the sex ratio applied to the social hymenoptera

Fisher's theory of the sex ratio may be extended to the social Hymenoptera; this extension must consider the unusual genetic structure of the Hymenoptera. Queens, workers, and laying workers generally have different equilibrial sex ratios of offspring and different equilibrial ratios of investment in offspring of the two sexes; these differences are the consequence of asymmetries in the degrees of relatedness between the queen, a worker, and a laying worker to male and female offspring. The equilibrial ratios of investment for the queen, a worker, and a laying worker are derived by finding the relative expected reproductive successes of genes in males and in reproductive females.