ISSN:
1420-9098
Keywords:
Nuptial flights
;
sexual behaviour
;
polygyny
;
Leptothoracini
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Biology
Notes:
Summary We describe in detail a very large nuptial flight of the antLeptothorax acervorum at an open hilltop site in Britain. The mating behaviour of these ants involved not only a large mating swarm but also sexual/calling behaviour by the females. The females left the flight to land on vertical objects, where they took up a characteristic calling posture, in which females of closely related species are known to release pheromones that are sexually attractive to males. ThatLeptothorax acervorum has a complex mating behaviour involving both large nuptial flights and sexual calling has important consequences for the interpretation of the evolution of polygyny in this species and social parasitism in its close relatives.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF01314918
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