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Why are there winged male and female ants even though the workers are
wingless?
To tell the truth, such winged ants are young individuals that will mate
in the near future, and the wings are used at the time of their nuptial
flight.
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Young female and male ants of the Camponotus japonicus species grow in
the nests and become adults with four wings each autumn. These adults
pass the winter in the nests and crawl out of there in May of the following
year. These female and male ants will then mate with each other.
Mating will take place in the evening of a muggy day around May 20. To
begin with, male ants will take off flying into the air as they are lighter
than the females. Females, which have larger and heavier bodies, take
off from a blade of grass or stones as if they have leapt from there.
Female ants fly toward a male ant by trailing the pleasant odor that
he releases. In this context, it can be said that wings play a crucial
role in the mating of ants. On the other hand, wings are useless for workers
because they do not mate.
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A male ant of the Camponotus japonicus
species, which fall on a leaf to die after mating |
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Ant
kingdom
