NEST2026BiologyPrinciples of Inheritance and Variation
In a haplodiploid ant species, sons are haploid and produced from unfertilized eggs, while daughters are diploid and produced from fertilized eggs. A single queen establishes a colony after mating with three different unrelated males. The queen uses the sperm from all three males equally to produce her female offspring. The average genetic relatedness between two randomly selected female offspring in this colony will
Options
- A0.750
- B0.500
- C0.333
- D0.417
Correct answer
D. 0.417
Step-by-step solution
In a haplodiploid system, females are diploid, receiving half of their genes from the mother (queen) and half from the father (male). Males are haploid, meaning all sperm produced by a single male are genetically identical. The genetic relatedness between two full sisters (sharing the same father) is 0.75 . This is because they share 100 % of their paternal genes ( 0.5 1 = 0.5 ) and 50 % of their maternal genes ( 0.5 0.5 = 0.25 ), giving 0.5 + 0.25 = 0.75 . The genetic relatedness between two half-sisters (having d