Eusociality evolved at a much higher rate in haplodiploid insects

Abstract

As a corollary to inclusive fitness theory, W.D. Hamiltons haplodiploid hypothesis proposed that eusociality evolves more readily in haplodiploids because of inflated genetic relatedness between sisters1. For the past sixty years, theoreticians have developed models clarifying how haplodiploidy might favor the evolution of eusociality2-5. Despite this sustained theoretical interest, the predicted relationship between haplodiploidy and eusociality has only very recently been empirically tested6,7. Here, we use two large species-level insect phylogenies with comprehensive sociality and ploidy trait data to test if eusociality evolves more readily in haplodiploids. We find that estimated transition rates to eusociality are higher in haplodiploids, but that this pattern is driven by a much higher transition rate within a single haplodiploid lineage, the aculeate Hymenoptera. Thus, the apparent links between haplodiploidy and eusociality reflect clade-specific dynamics rather than a general effect of haplodiploidy.