Sex ratio genetics and the competitiveness of parasitic wasps

In the first part of the paper we analyse dynamics of the genetic mechanisms responsible for maintaining biased sex ratios in host-parasitoid interactions. We begin by reviewing recent results relating to the maintenance of sibmating in haplo-diploid populations. We then investigate the evolutionary stable sex ratio in populations in which all or some of the females mate with their brothers. In particular, we derive a diallelic one-locus model for studying evolutionary stable sex ratios in partially sibmating haplo-diploid populations. In the second part of the paper we review the impact of sex ratio on host-parasitoid populations. We then analyse how the sex ratio strategy of one parasitoid species may affect its interaction with another parasitoid species competing for the same host. In particular we show that, although a female biased sex ratio may enhance the inherent competitiveness of one species, it may also destabilize the ecological interaction of the three species so that all become extinct.