The Male Mating Strategy of the Ant Formica Subpolita Mayr (Hymenoptera: Formicidae): Swarming, Mating, and Predation Risk
All-male mating swarms of the ant Formica subpolita were observed at the same site, and sometimes on the same plants, for six consecutive years (1988–1993) in southwestern Montana. The swarms, sometimes numbering thousands of males, occurred above and within shrubs and clumps of tall grasses. Mating...
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| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wiley
1994-01-01
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| Series: | Psyche: A Journal of Entomology |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/1994/38217 |
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| Summary: | All-male mating swarms of the ant Formica subpolita were
observed at the same site, and sometimes on the same plants, for
six consecutive years (1988–1993) in southwestern Montana. The
swarms, sometimes numbering thousands of males, occurred above
and within shrubs and clumps of tall grasses. Mating occurred on
the plant surface below the swarms and lasted for 62 s on average.
Females controlled who they mated with and were observed to
mate with up to 4 different males, before dispersing from swarm
sites. I obtained ~900 records of predation on F. subpolita at
swarms. Twenty-one species of predator were observed, the foremost
of which were the robber fly Efferia staminea and the spider Dictyna coloradensis. With the exception of prey of the digger
wasp Aphilanthops subfrigidus, which prey only on females, prey
records were overwhelmingly male-biased. Results are compared
to observations on other species of ants, especially those in the
genus Pogonomyrmex. |
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| ISSN: | 0033-2615 1687-7438 |