Abstract
Mating in most species of ants occurs during nuptial flights. In the African weaver ant, Oecophylla longinoda Latreille, mating has previously been hypothesized to take place within the nest before the nuptial flight. However, several researchers disagree with this supposition particularly with reference to the closely related species Oecopylla smaragdina (Fabricius) whose mating occur during nuptial flights. Understanding the mating strategy of O. longinoda is of importance for its successful application in biological control programs. We conducted field and screen house experiments during two mating seasons to determine whether the mating occur prior to the dispersal flight. We examined winged O. longinoda queens on the nest surface before taking flight, immediately after leaving the nest, up to twelve hours (12h) after leaving the nest and after settling naturally following the dispersal flights. Mating in captivity between different number of males and queens were also assessed. Only eggs produced by queens (N=65) collected after their natural settling hatched into larvae. No eggs hatched from any of the 527 winged queens that were collected prior to their dispersal flights and no mating attempts in captivity lead to viable offspring. Findings from the current study suggest that mating of O. longinoda queens take place during a nuptial flight and does not take place within the nest, as previously suggested.
Highlights
The African Weaver Ant (AWA), Oecophylla longinoda Latreille (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) is a predatory species which controls a wide range of insect pests in multiple crops (Way and Khoo, 1992; Van Mele, 2008)
There are mainly two mating systems which have been reported in ants namely; male aggregation and female calling
In this study only the queens that dispersed and subsequently settled naturally were able to produce viable offspring. These queens had an opportunity to fly to heights beyond 10 meters. This observation suggests that mating took place after their dispersal from the nest and that a certain flying height was needed before mating occurred
Summary
The African Weaver Ant (AWA), Oecophylla longinoda Latreille (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) is a predatory species which controls a wide range of insect pests in multiple crops (Way and Khoo, 1992; Van Mele, 2008). Introduction of O. longinoda into crop fields requires mapping of colonies in natural habitat, subsequent harvesting and transplanting. There are mainly two mating systems which have been reported in ants namely; male aggregation and female calling. Females enter a swarm, which is dominated by males and subsequently mate with one or more of these males and return from the flight as fertile queens (Kaspariet al., 2001). Female calling (FC) is a system that winged females position themselves near their natal nests and emit pheromones to attract winged males with whom they mate, before they disperse or re-enter their
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