Data from: Sex ratio variations among years and breeding systems in a facultatively parthenogenetic termite

Some species of termites evolved an outstanding reproductive strategy
called asexual queen succession (AQS), in which the primary queen is
replaced by multiple parthenogenetically produced daughters (neotenics)
that mate with the primary king. When the primary king is eventually
replaced, this time by sexually produced neotenic king(s), sex-asymmetric
inbreeding occurs and the queen’s genome is more transmitted than that of
the king, thereby increasing the reproductive value of female dispersers,
and female-biased population sex ratio is expected. Yet, the life cycle,
the breeding system dynamics and AQS modalities differ between AQS
species, thereby modifying the relative genetic contribution of primary
reproductives in the colony and thus also the equilibrium sex ratio. We
estimated colonial and population sex ratio over two consecutive dispersal
periods in a French Guiana population of Cavitermes tuberosus (Termitinae)
in which the founding queen may be replaced only after colony maturity,
some neotenic females may be sexually produced, and some female dispersers
arise through parthenogenesis. Colonial sex ratio varied among colonies:
primary-headed nests with higher within-nest relatedness produced more
females than neotenic-headed nests with lower relatedness among
individuals. Over the two dispersal periods, the population investment sex
ratio fluctuated around 1:1, thereby confirming that AQS breeding system
is not necessarily linked with female biased sex ratio. The balanced alate
sex ratio, combined with the occurrence of sexually produced neotenic
queens, is possibly the outcome of a queen-king conflict between the
primary reproductives.