Question

A female fig wasp arrives at a fig to lay her eggs. When they hatch, they will mate with other wasps. She observes that several other females have already laid eggs here. Which strategy will maximize her fitness (number of descendants)?

A. Lay only male eggs.
B. Lay more female eggs than any of the previous females, and then as many male eggs as possible.
C. Lay eggs at 50:50 sex ratio.
D. Lay only female eggs.
E. Lay more male eggs than any of the previous females, and then as many female eggs as possible.

Answer 1

The correct answer is option E. "Lay more male eggs than any of the previous females, and then as many female eggs as possible".

Step-by-step explanation:

Fig wasps are insects that characterize for spending most of its time as larvae inside figs. Adjusting the number and sex of eggs to adjust to a sex ratio is an adaptation of fig wasps. A female fig wasp that arrived to hatch its eggs latter than other females would maximize its number of descendants by laying more male eggs than any of the previous females, and then as many female eggs as possible. . In this scenario, the male descendants of the female fig wasp that arrived later will born later than the others and will have a better chance to mate with older females. Once the ratio of female and male is equalized, the females that born later will start a new cycle.