Courtship with two spoons—Anatomy and presumed function of the bizarre antennae of Cardiocondyla zoserka ant males

Abstract

Traits associated with courtship and mating can evolve rapidly and often result in striking differences in sexually selected traits among closely related species, for example, as in the displays of male bowerbirds, the coloration of male cichlid fish, and the song pulse rate in field crickets (reviewed by Broder et al., 2021;Svensson & Gosden, 2007;Zuk & Tinghitella, 2008). The morphology of ant males appears to be much more conservative and on a first glance differs little between congeneric species (e.g., Wheeler, 1910). The morphology and behavior of ant males are adapted to locating and approaching a female sexual and to mating. The typical mating syndromes of ants, male aggregation and female calling, do not give males much opportunity for elaborate courtship displays or male-male antagonism other than scramble competition (Boomsma et al., 2005;Hölldobler & Bartz, 1985). Ant males cannot easily obtain and defend a harem of queens and, like the males of other social Hymenoptera, start their sexual life with

Assisted dispersal and reproductive success in an ant species with matchmaking

“…Female sexuals may mate "for convenience" when resistance to courting males is too costly, as has been suggested for the polyandrous queens of Plagiolepis pygmaea (Trontti et al, 2007). However, previous observations of mating behavior in Cardiocondyla clearly show that female sexuals are well capable of defending themselves even against the most vicious courtship by much larger males (e.g., Heinze et al, 2021). Instead, female sexuals of C. elegans might copulate repeatedly "to pay rent" for hibernation in an alien colony.…”

Comparative Morphology of the Symbiont Cultivation Glands in the Antennae of Female Digger Wasps of the Genus Philanthus (Hymenoptera: Crabronidae)

“…Generally, antennal glands let alone complex ones as described here for female Philanthini seem uncommon among Hymenoptera. Some ant workers and queens ( Isidoro et al, 2000 ; Renthal et al, 2008 ) as well as male parasitoid wasps (see e.g., Romani et al, 2008 and references therein) have pores on some antennal segments, sometimes with enlarged antennomeres and associated gland tissue ( Heinze et al, 2021 ). For males a role in courtship is assumed ( Bin et al, 1999 ; Romani et al, 2003 ; Heinze et al, 2021 ).…”

Lineage-specific patterns of sexually dimorphic antennal transcription in the paper waspPolistes fuscatus

“…For example, in A. mellifera, the hallmark of male behavior is its "simplicity" and "limited diversity" (Ohtani 1974). In light of their life history differences, it is not surprising that sex differences in sensory morphology between male and female social insects have been widely reported (Brockmann and Brückner 2001;Renthal et al 2003;Koeniger et al 2005;Wanner et al 2007b;Heinze et al 2021).…”