High levels of diploid male production in a primitively eusocial bee (Hymenoptera: Halictidae)

Abstract

Under single locus complementary sex determination (sl-CSD), diploid males are produced from fertilized eggs that are homozygous at the sex-determining locus. Diploid males are effectively sterile, and thus their production generates a costly genetic load. Using allozyme electrophoresis, a large number of diploid males were detected in natural populations of the primitively eusocial bee, Halictus poeyi Lepeletier collected in southern and central Florida during May 2000. Estimates for the proportion of diploids that are male ranged from 9.1% to 50%, while the frequency of matched matings ranged from 18.2% to 100%. The effective number of alleles at the sex-determining locus ranged from two to 11, with an average of five alleles. The effective population size of Halictus poeyi was estimated to be 19.6 ± 2.5 SE. These data are interpreted in the light of the biogeographic history of Florida and the social biology/population dynamics of H. poeyi.