Evolution: informational constraints on adaptation.
Many species adaptively alter offspring sex ratios, yet little is known about how they obtain relevant environmental information. New work on the parasitoid wasp Nasonia vitripennis reveals that the presence of eggs on hosts provides a reliable cue allowing females to determine the degree of local mate competition and adaptively adjust offspring sex ratios.
Keller
Laurent
L
Department of Ecology and Evolution, BB, University of Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.
D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D003463:Cues; D005260:Female; D008954:Models, Biological; D012744:Sex Ratio; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology; D014863:Wasps / Q000502:physiology*