Abstract
The elbow-room model of sib competition predicts that sexually reproducing parents could have a fitness advantage over asexual parents if competition within more diverse, sexually produced offspring was less intense than within more homogeneous, asexually produced ones. To test the assumption empirically that genetic homogeneity implies stronger competition, we compared the productivity of sib groups and random groups of the flour beetle Tribolium castaneum maintained at very high densities. For larval production, we found an initial advantage of sib groups but it did not result in an advantage in total adult production, because high initial densities increased mortality in the long run, such that the adult production was the same in both groups. We discuss how some changes in our experimental design could produce very different results, and conclude that sib competition is unlikely to be a general explanation for the widespread presence of sexual reproduction in nature.
Similar content being viewed by others
Article PDF
References
Barton, N H, and Post, R J. 1986. Sibling competition and the advantage of mixed families. J Theoret Biol, 120, 381–387.
Botella, L M, and Mensua, J L. 1986. Larval arrest in development of Tribolium castaneum (Coleoptera. Tenebrionidae). Environ Entomol, 15, 1264–1267.
Bulmer, M G. 1980. The sib competition model for the maintenance of sex and recombination. J, Theoret Biol, 82, 335–345.
Dawson, P S. 1967. Developmental rate and competitive ability in Tribolium. II. Changes in competitive ability following further selection for developmental rate. Evolution, 21, 292–298.
Dawson, P S. 1975. Directional versus stabilizing selection for developmental time in natural and laboratory populations of four beetles. Genetics, 80, 773–783.
Ellstrand, N C, and Antonovics, J. 1985. Experimental studies of the evolutionary significance of sexual reproduction. II. A test of the density-dependent selection hypothesis. Evolution, 39, 657–666.
Englert, D C, and Bell, A E. 1970. Selection for time of pupation in Tribolium castaneum. Genetics, 64, 541–552.
Fogle, T A, and Englert, D C. 1976. Differential cannibalism among larvae of Tribolium castaneum as influenced by the antennapedia mutation. Can J Genet Cytol, 18, 179–187.
García, C, and Toro, M A. 1990. Individual and group selection for productivity in Tribolium castaneum. Theor Appl Genet, 79, 256–260.
Jasienski, M. 1988. Kinship ecology of competition: size hierarchies in kin and non-kin laboratory cohorts of tadpoles. Oecologia, 77, 407–413.
Jasienski, M, Korzeniak, U, and Lomnicki, A. 1988. Ecology of kin and non-kin larval interactions in Tribolium beetles. Behav Ecol Sociobiol, 22, 277–284.
Karten, I. 1965. Genetic differences and conditioning in Tribolium castaneum. Physiol Zool, 38, 69–79.
Keddy, P A. 1989. Competition. Chapman & Hall, London.
Kelley, S E. 1989a. Experimental studies of the evolutionary significance of sexual reproduction. V. A field test of the sib-competition lottery hypothesis. Evolution, 43, 1054–1065.
Kelley, S E. 1989b. Experimental studies of the evolutionary significance of sexual reproduction. VI. Greenhouse test of the sib-competition hypothesis. Evolution, 43, 1066–1074.
Kelley, S E, Antonovics, J, and Schmitt, J. 1988. A test of the short-term advantage of sexual reproduction. Nature, 331, 714–716.
King, C E, and Dawson, P S. 1972. Population biology and the Tribolium model. Evol Biol, 5, 133–227.
McDonald, D I, and Davidson, L J. 1965. Population fitness in Tribolium. I. An approach to the problem. Am Nat, 99, 463–470.
Martín, M J, Pérez-Tomé, J M, and Toro, M A. 1988. Competition and genotypic variability in Drosophila melanogaster. Heredity, 60, 119–123.
Mayes, P A, and Englert, D W. 1984. Interstrain differences for larval dispersal and egg cannibalism in the flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum. Can J Genet Cytol, 26, 420–424.
Maynard Smith, J. 1978. The Evolution of Sex. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Mertz, D B, and Robertson, J R. 1970. Some developmental consequences of handling, egg-eating and population density for flour beetle larvae. Ecology, 51, 989–998.
Pérez-Tomé. J M, and Toro, M A. 1982. Competition of similar and non-similar genotypes. Nature, 229, 153–154.
Price, M U, and Waser, N M. 1982. Population structure, frequency-dependent selection, and the maintenance of sexual reproduction. Evolution, 36, 35–43.
SAS. 1982. SAS User's Guide: Statistics. SAS Institute, Cary, N.C.
Soliman, H. 1982. Directional and stabilizing selection for developmental time and correlated response in reproductive fitness in Tribolium castaneum. Theor Appl Genet, 63, 111–116.
Stevens, L. 1989. The genetics and evolution of cannibalism in flour beetles (Genus Tribolium). Evolution, 43, 169–179.
Taylor, P D. 1979. An analytical model of a short-term advantage for sex. J Theoret Biol, 81, 407–421.
Tonsor, S J. 1989. Relatedness and intraspecific competition in Plantago lanceolata. Am Nat, 134, 897–906.
Wade, M J. 1980a. An experimental study of kin selection. Evolution, 34, 844–855.
Wade, M J. 1980b. Group selection, population growth rate, and competitive ability in the flour beetle, Tribolium ssp. Ecology, 61, 1056–1064.
Williams, G C, and Mitton, J B. 1973. Why reproduce sexually? J Theoret Biol, 39, 545–554.
Willson, M F, Thomas, P A, Hoppes, W G, Katusic-Malmbourg, P L, Goldman, D A, and Bothwell, J L. 1987. Sibling competition in plants: an experimental study. Am Nat 129, 304–311.
Young, A M. 1970. Predation and abundance in populations of flour beetles. Ecology, 51, 602–619.
Young, J P W. 1981. Sib competition can favor sex in two ways. J Theoret Biol, 88, 755–756.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Garcia, C., Toro, M. Sib competition in Tribolium: a test of the elbow-room model. Heredity 68, 529–536 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1038/hdy.1992.75
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/hdy.1992.75