Data from: DNA methylation and sex allocation in the parasitoid wasp Nasonia vitripennis

The role of epigenetics in the control and evolution of behavior is being
increasingly recognized. Here we test whether DNA methylation influences
patterns of adaptive sex allocation in the parasitoid wasp Nasonia
vitripennis. Female N. vitripennis allocate offspring sex broadly in line
with local mate competition (LMC) theory. However, recent theory has
highlighted how genomic conflict may influence sex allocation under LMC,
conflict that requires parent-of-origin information to be retained by
alleles through some form of epigenetic signal. We manipulated
whole-genome DNA methylation in N. vitripennis females using the
hypomethylating agent 5-aza-2′-deoxycytidine. Across two replicated
experiments, we show that disruption of DNA methylation does not ablate
the facultative sex allocation response of females, as sex ratios still
vary with cofoundress number as in the classical theory. However, sex
ratios are generally shifted upward when DNA methylation is disrupted. Our
data are consistent with predictions from genomic conflict over sex
allocation theory and suggest that sex ratios may be closer to the optimum
for maternally inherited alleles.