MULTILOCUS AUTOSOMAL SEX DETERMINATION

The two basic one locus sex determination models, diploid individual sex determination and parental sex determination, are generalized to the multilocus framework. As in the single locus case, it is established that there are two classes of polymorphic equilibria with even sex ratio and equilibria with equal allele frequencies in the two sexes. The condition for external stability of this second class equilibria to invasion by a "new" mutant allele is that a "new" appropriately averaged sex ratio near the equilibrium be moved closer to the even sex ratio. However, stable polymorphisms with noneven sex ratio are not those that have a sex ratio as close as possible to 1/2, in contrast to the single locus case.