Mating Behavior of The Small Carpenter Ant, Camponotus yamaokai

Kazuma Chiyoda; Kanata Inoue; Koji  Nishisue; Kazuhisa Yamasaki; Toshiyuki Satoh; Satoshi Koyama

doi:10.13102/sociobiology.v71i1.10491

Authors

Kazuma Chiyoda Cooperative Department of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Fuchu, Japan
Kanata Inoue Institute of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Fuchu, Tokyo, Japan
Koji Nishisue Institute of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Fuchu, Tokyo, Japan
Kazuhisa Yamasaki Institute of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Fuchu, Tokyo, Japan
Toshiyuki Satoh Cooperative Department of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Agriculture & Institute of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Fuchu, Japan
Satoshi Koyama Cooperative Department of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Agriculture & Institute of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Fuchu, Japan https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6270-8069

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.13102/sociobiology.v71i1.10491

Keywords:

copulation, sexual behavior, mating attempt, intranidal mating

Abstract

Ants are known to show diverse mating behaviors across different species, but detailed reports on such behaviors are limited to only 0.7% of ant species. Therefore, we report on the mating behavior of the alate females and males in the small carpenter ant, Camponotus yamaokai. Its process was classified into two phases: mating attempt, and copulation. Out of 53 pairs we observed, 23 pairs engaged in a total of 36 mating attempts. The mating attempt durations in cases where copulation failed were significantly longer than those leading to copulation. Among these attempts, copulation was observed 10 times in 9 pairs, including multiple mating in one pair. The copulation lasted for 24.0 ± 5.1 seconds (mean ± SD). At the end of copulation, males pulled out their genitalia quickly to avoid potential attacks from the females. This behavior might be a strategy of males to minimize the risk of mortality during a single mating and support them to engage in multiple mating.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Allard, D., Gobin, B., & Billen, J. (2007). Timing of sperm transfer in Diacamma pallidum. Physiological Entomology, 32: 382-387.

Baer, B. (2011). The copulation biology of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Myrmecological News, 14: 55-68.

Fortelius, W. (2005). Mating behaviour in the polygynous/polydomous wood ant Formica aquilonia. Annales Zoologici Fennici, 42: 213-224.

Fukumoto, Y. (1989). A novel form of colony organization in the" queenless" ant Diacamma rugosum. Physiology and Ecology Japan, 26: 55-61.

Heinze, J., & Hölldobler, B. (1993). Fighting for a harem of queens: physiology of reproduction in Cardiocondyla male ants. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 90: 8412-8414.

Hölldobler, B., & Bartz, S.H. (1985). Sociobiology of reproduction in ants. In: Hölldobler, B., & Lindauer, M. (Eds.), Experimental behavioural ecology and sociobiology (pp. 237-257). New York: Gustav Fischer Verlag, Stuttgart.

Hölldobler, B. & Wilson, E.O. (1990). The Ants. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 732 p

Hughes, W.O., Oldroyd, B.P., Beekman, M., & Ratnieks, F.L. (2008). Ancestral monogamy shows kin selection is key to the evolution of eusociality. Science, 320(5880): 1213-1216.

Kannonski, P.H. (1962). The flight activities of Formicine ants. North Dakota Academy of Science, 34.

Keller, L., & Passera, L. (1992). Mating system, optimal number of matings, and sperm transfer in the Argentine ant Iridomyrmex humilis. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 31: 359-366.

Keller, L., & Reeve, H.K. (1995). Why do females mate with multiple males? The sexually selected sperm hypothesis. Advances in the Study of Behaviour, 24: 291-316.

Marikovsky, P.I. (1961). Material on sexual biology of the ant Formica rufa L. Insectes Sociaux, 8: 23-30.

Mercier, J.L., Lenoir, J.C., Eberhardt, A., Frohschammer, S., Williams, C., & Heinze, J. (2007). Hammering, mauling, and kissing: stereotyped courtship behavior in Cardiocondyla ants. Insectes Sociaux, 54: 403-411.

Oberstadt, B., & Heinze, J. (2003). Mating biology and population structure of the ant, Leptothorax gredleri. Insectes Sociaux, 50: 340-345.

O'Neill, K.M. (1994). The male mating strategy of the ant Formica subpolita Mayr (Hymenoptera: Formicidae): swarming, mating, and predation risk. Psyche, 101: 93-108.

Satoh, T. (1991). Behavioral differences of queens in monogynous and polygynous nests of the Camponotus nawai complex (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Insectes Sociaux, 38: 37-44.

Satoh, T., Masuko, K., & Matsumoto, T. (1997). Colony genetic structure in the mono-and polygynous sibling species of the ants Camponotus nawai and Camponotus yamaokai: DNA fingerprint analysis. Ecological Research, 12: 71-76.

Shik, J.Z., Flatt, D., Kay, A., & Kaspari, M. (2012). A life history continuum in the males of a Neotropical ant assemblage: refuting the sperm vessel hypothesis. Naturwissenschaften, 99: 191-197.

Terayama, M., & Satoh, T. (1990). A new species of the genus Camponotus from Japan, with notes on two known forms of the subgenus Myrmamblys (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Japanese Journal of Entomology, 58: 405-414.

Terayama, M., Kubota, S., Eguchi, K. (2014). Encyclopedia of Japanese ants. Tokyo: Asakura Shoten, 278 p.