Sex ratio and asymmetry between the sexes in the production of replacement reproductives in the termite, Neotermes papua (Desneux)

Sex ratio data were collected and orphaning experiments carried out in the New Guinea giant cocoa termite, Neotermes papua. The sex ratio of the alates tends to be slightly female-biased, whereas males represent on average about 60% of the pseuder- gates and soldiers. This might represent a rudimentary form of sex specialization in the production of working individuals. Male neotenics readily appear in orphan cultures. By contrast, only imaginal replacement females were obtained. Neither a higher fecundity nor a quicker differentiation seem able to account for the evolutionary change from neotenic replacement females to imaginal ones. Another explanation is proposed, based on the potential advantages of channelling a maximum proportion of female nymphs into dispersing alates. © 1991 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.SCOPUS: ar.j