Queen Number Influences The Timing Of The Sexual Production In Colonies Of Cardiocondyla Ants

Wingless males of the ant genus Cardiocondyla engage in fatal fighting for access to female sexual nestmates. Older, heavily sclerotised males are usually capable of eliminating all younger rivals, whose cuticle is still soft.


It therefore pays mother queens in multi-queen societies to produce their male offspring very early in the colony life cycle. Queens of C. obscurior and C. minutior indeed reared their first sons significantly earlier in multi-queen than in single-queen societies.


In addition, first female sexuals also emerged earlier in multi-queen colonies, so that early males had mating opportunities.


Hence, the timing of sexual production appears to be well predicted by evolutionary theory, in particular by local mate and queen-queen competition.


Royal Society journal Biology Letters


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Biology Letters