Occurrence of protandry and a female-biased sex-ratio in a sponge-associated water mite (Acari: Unionicolidae)

The sex ratio of aUnionicola crassipes-type mite from a pond in Alberta, Canada, was found to be significantly female-biased at the time of adult emergence. Male mites emerged earlier, but were later surpassed in number by the females. This protandry seems more likely to be due to the smaller size of the males and hence their faster developmental rate than to any mating advatage the male mites gain by early emergence. It is possible that group selection acting on the productivity of mite colonies with different proportions of low-sex-ratio producers has selected for female-bias. Water mites are not known to exhibit any atypical modes of reproduction (e.g.arrhenotoky), nor is it known whether pre-adult maleU. crassipes have a greater mortality rate than females, so the mechanism behind the skewed ratio is not known.