%0 Journal Article
%T Male-killing in African butterflies
%A Sami Saeed M. Hassan
%A Eihab Idris
%J Trends in Evolutionary Biology
%D 2013
%I 
%R 10.4081/eb.2013.e2
%X 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.
%K Danaus chrysippus
%K Acraea encedon
%K Acraea encedana
%K Wolbachia
%K Spiroplasma
%K sex ratio distortion
%U http://www.pagepress.org/journals/index.php/eb/article/view/4579