FIGHTING FOR A HAREM OF QUEENS - PHYSIOLOGY OF REPRODUCTION IN CARDIOCONDYLA MALE ANTS

Several species of the ant genus Cardiocondyla produce dimorphic males , which exhibit sharply different mating strategies. Winged males typi cally disperse to mate outside the nest, whereas wingless, ergatoid ma les stay in the nest and aggressively employ their mandibles against c ompeting ergatoid males to monopolize the virgin queens eclosing in th e nest. Such aggressive mating strategy would only be adaptive if the males had unlimited sperm supply. Histological studies showed that, co ntrary to the rule in the Hymenoptera order, the ergatoid Cardiocondyl a males are indeed able to produce sperm during their entire adult fif e. Winged males, on the other hand, have only a limited sperm supply s ince spermatogenesis ceases in the late pupal stage.