Terminal investment in male social insects

• Grant number: 24/03055-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: April 01, 2024
• Status: Discontinued
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Zoology - Animal Behavior
• Principal Investigator: André Rodrigues de Souza
• Grantee: Daniela Alejandra Torres Garcia
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto (FFCLRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 20/14464-2 - Sexual selection in neotropical social wasps, AP.JP
• Associated scholarship(s): 25/06840-8 - Impact of biopesticides on sexual partner selection in male social wasps, BE.EP.MS

Abstract

Male ants, bees and social wasps (Hymenoptera) are relatively short-lived, but their ejaculates can survive for a long time in the female reproductive tract. The low investment in somatic maintenance suggests that these insects prioritize reproduction over survival. It is possible that an increase in the probability of death results in greater reproductive effort, as proposed by the "terminal investment hypothesis." Newly emerged males of social hymenoptera are sexually immature. It takes a few days for the sperm to migrate from the testicles to the seminal vesicles, where they can then form the ejaculate. By manipulating the life expectancy of males through activation of the immune system, we will test whether an increase in the probability of death results in the acceleration of sexual maturation, that is, the accelerated migration of sperm from the testicles to the seminal vesicles. This is the first test of the "terminal investment hypothesis" in male social insects. We will use different species of neotropical wasps from the genera Mischocyttarus and Polistes as models.