Success Rate Less Than 1%, Mating Rituals of Ants: Wedding Flight | Super Detailed Introduction

The ants are ready to fly out of the nest and find a new home when the time is right!

This is the mating ceremony of ants. Since it takes place in the air, it is called "Wedding Flight" and it is an annual event in the world of ants.

Classes and Jobs

The division of labor among ants is so clear that even the job of "reproduction" is clearly separated. The only ants with the ability to reproduce are queen ants and male ants, who are responsible for expanding the colony and walking around the genes, also known as breeding ants.

The protagonist of the wedding flight

The newborn queen ants that have not mated yet and have not left their home are called virgin queen ants. In the world of ants, the main characters of the nuptial season are the huge number of virgin queen ants and male ants.

A few months before the nuptial season, the breeding ants will be born and spend the next few months preparing in the nest, waiting for their reproductive organs to mature and storing as much fat and nutrients as possible in their bodies, so that they are ready to face the next most important moment in their lives.

Wedding Ceremony

The mating of ants, also known as the nuptial flight ceremony.

During the wedding flight, the male ants will fly into the air first and secrete pheromones, which is a signal. When the signal in the air is strong enough, it is the turn of the virgin ants to take off.

On the selected day, the male ants will fly out from their nests and the queen ants will choose the strongest male to mate with.

This ritual usually takes place in the early morning or late afternoon when the temperature is moderate and the wind speed is relatively low. Male ants and queen ants will meet in the air and mate at the right time.

Wedding Flight

The timing of a wedding is determined by several factors: temperature, humidity, wind speed and time.

Warmer weather is good for the insect's mobility. Moist soil after rainfall is good for the queen ants to dig up the soil surface and build up their nests.

This usually takes place in the humid summer, especially in the evening when there is a slight breeze. The breeze and higher humidity are conducive to the flight of ants and the spreading of pheromones, and in Taiwan, the nuptial flights of ants are usually centered in the period between May and August.

Choice of Wedding Venue

婚飛通常發生在特定的地點，這些地點通常具有突出的景觀特徵，例如陽光照射的空地、森林邊緣、山頂或高層建築的頂部。

特別的是，在同一個區域中的同種螞蟻，會不約而同的，在同一時間、同一地點婚飛，有些螞蟻甚至有著「記憶傳承」，例如連續１０年，每一批婚飛的繁殖蟻，都會在一個，沒有任何指標，沒有任何特徵的荒地進行婚飛。

Love Songs from the Heights

雄性通常會先從巢中飛出，一旦升到高空，它們最初會隨風飄移，但幾秒鐘後，便會逆風或橫風飛行，不久後到達群聚地點。在這些地點，它們會與雌蟻交配，形成繁殖群聚，並通過競爭，來贏得交配的機會。

交配後，蟻后會廣泛分散，脫落翅膀，開始挖掘新的巢穴。

例如，紅火蟻的雄蟻和蟻后，能夠飛到250公尺，甚至更高的高度，並在交配後，降落到距離出發地2.5公里的區域。

The flow of the wedding flight

交配的具體流程很簡單，但卻非常重要。

通常，雄蟻會將其生殖器插入蟻后的生殖道中，並釋放精子。過程很快，但這是確保螞蟻族群得以延續的關鍵步驟。

蟻后在交配後，會儲存雄蟻的精子，用於生產幼蟲，蟻后的壽命大約10~20年，終其一生只需要交配一次。而雄蟻在完成交配任務後，壽命就會走到結束。

Life after the wedding

交配後，我們稱其為新后。

他會先降落在地面，退去牠的翅膀，接著四處奔走，尋找並挖掘自己的新蟻巢，最後開始產卵。

新后會投入所有資源，獨自照顧初期的卵和幼蟲，直至第一批工蟻成熟，成熟後的工蟻，會開始協助蟻后，進行更多的工作，如採集食物和照顧其他幼蟲。

在第一批工蟻出生前，蟻后通常不會進食，而是溶解自身翅膀的肌肉，取得營養，因為他已不再需要飛行能力了，同時，依靠體內預先貯存的大量脂肪，撐過這一個艱苦的時期。

Wedding Fly's Survival Challenge

大多數處女蟻后離開母巢後，馬上就會面臨生命的威脅。

新后體內貯存大量脂肪，對於其他動物來說，是非常營養又美味的食物，空中鳥類的捕食、地面的蜘蛛、青蛙、食蟲動物、其他昆蟲，這些都是新后必須躲避的敵人，甚至還必須避免降落在錯誤的地方。

在首批工蟻羽化之前，仍有許多挑戰，此階段考驗的，不只蟻后的體質、能力，更考驗他的運氣，因為任何一個事件，都可能影響重大，例如乾旱、其他掠食者入侵、幼蟲遭感染死亡等，唯有體質最好、運氣最佳的蟻后，才能是贏家。

在有大量人口的螞蟻群落中，例如切葉蟻和火蟻，一個蟻群在短短的時間內，釋放數百甚至數千隻蟻后是常見的現象。如果周遭地區主要由穩定、成熟的螞蟻群落佔據，那麼只有寥寥無幾的蟻后能夠成功地成為新群體的母后。

根據研究，能夠活到１歲的新后，機率不到１％

Natural Selection

在螞蟻的世界中，自然選擇起著重要的作用。

只有最強壯、最適應環境的螞蟻，才能成功交配並生產下一代。自然選擇確保了螞蟻族群的健康和強壯，並且有助於它們在各種環境條件下生存和繁衍。

自然選擇不僅影響螞蟻的交配，還影響著整個蟻群的結構和行為。通過自然選擇，螞蟻族群能夠不斷適應變化的環境，並且保持其生態系統的穩定和繁榮。

Conclusion

螞蟻的交配儀式是自然界中一個非常壯觀的現象。通過了解螞蟻的交配過程，我們可以更好地理解這些微小生物如何確保他們族群的延續，以及他們如何適應不斷變化的環境。不過，這篇文章僅僅觸及了表面，螞蟻世界的奧秘仍然等待著我們去探索。

螞蟻的交配不僅是一種生物生殖的方式，它也是自然界中無數生命循環和生態系統平衡的鮮活展示。他們的生活和生態系統為我們展示了自然界的奇蹟，也讓我們認識到生命的多樣性和複雜性。透過對螞蟻交配儀式的探索，我們不僅可以獲得知識，還可以對生命和自然有更深的理解。

FAQ

1. When does an ant's wedding ceremony usually take place?
   • Wedding ceremonies for ants usually take place in warm seasons, such as spring or summer, and days with moderate temperatures and low wind speeds are usually chosen.
2. What happens after mating?
   • Male ants usually die soon after mating and their main mission is to pass on their genes to the queen.
3. What do queen ants do after mating?
   • After mating, the queen ants will start to look for a suitable place to build a new nest and start digging the nest, laying eggs and taking care of the larvae.
4. Do ants only need to mate once?
   • That's right, the queen ant usually mates only once in her life. She has a special method to preserve the sperms for more than 10 years and remove them for use when necessary.
5. How much sperm can be stored after ants?
   • The queen can store millions or even tens of millions of sperm.
6. What is the difference between male ants and worker ants?
   • The main function of male ants is to mate, while worker ants are unable to reproduce and are mainly responsible for finding food, building and maintaining nests, and caring for the larvae.
7. How do ants choose their mating partners?
   • Ants usually choose their mating partners randomly during the nuptial flight ceremony, but queen ants tend to choose the strongest male for mating.
8. How many queen ants are there in the nest?
   • Usually, only one or more of the old queen ants can give birth, while the rest of the newborn virgin queen ants need to find a new place to build up their own nests.
9. What is the rate of successful establishment of new clusters?
   • The success rate of new clusters is very low, usually less than 1%.