Seasonal and nocturnal periodicities in ant nuptial flights in the tropics (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Abstract

Nocturnal nuptial flights of ants were studied at Guaynabo and Guanica in the tropical island of Puerto Rico. A great proportion of the species had a high frequency of flights during the year with little seasonality in the frequency of flights. Flights were less frequent during the dry season. Nuptlal flights at Guaynabo occurred mostly during the post-sunset (18:30-22:30) and pre-dawn (04:00-06:00) hours. Few flights occurred between these two periods. The number of flights was fewer and flights on the average smaller in size in the Guanica dry forest than at Guaynabo. There was little differentiation in the flight patterns of species belonging to the same genus. All-male flights were more common than all-female flights, but in some species the pattern was reversed. One-sex flights were commoner than flights in which both sexes were present. Usually more males were captured on a nuptial flight than females, but in some months or in some species the pattern was reversed. The lack of llight synchronization between the sexes results in a great loss of reproductive effort in most species. This lack of synchronization implies that mating success cannot be estimated by the relative abundance of queens and males in nests.

Citation

Torres, J.A.; Snelling, R.R.; Canals, M. 2001. Seasonal and nocturnal periodicities in ant nuptial flights in the tropics (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Sociobiology. 37(3B):601-626.