Male-killing in African butterflies


https://doi.org/10.4081/eb.2013.e2
Vol. 5 No. 1 (2013)
Submitted: 30 October 2012
Accepted: 18 February 2013
Published: 8 April 2013
Danaus chrysippus, Acraea encedon, Acraea encedana, Wolbachia, Spiroplasma, sex ratio distortion
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Authors

  • Sami Saeed M. Hassan
    samisaeedmh@yahoo.com
    Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, University of Khartoum, Sudan; Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Hail, Saudi Arabia; Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom.
  • Eihab Idris Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, University of Khartoum, Sudan.
Female-biased sex ratios occur in many insect species as a consequence of infection by maternally-inherited male-killing bacterial endosymbionts. In this paper, we revise the research conducted on the phenomenon of male-killing in African nymphalid butterflies, with special focus on the cases of Danaus chrysippus, Acraea encedon and Acraea encedana. The evolution of male-killing in each case was addressed, together with the phylogeny of male-killers that were identified from this group. Moreover, the potential impacts that male-killers might impose on the evolution of their butterfly hosts were thoroughly investigated. In the end of this review, we present a number of unanswered questions to be targeted by future research work on the male-killing in these butterflies.

Supporting Agencies


Hassan, S. S. M., & Idris, E. (2013). Male-killing in African butterflies. Trends in Evolutionary Biology, 5(1), e2. https://doi.org/10.4081/eb.2013.e2

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