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 32 acacia-ant mating DHJanzen100114.jpg high resolution
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| The male climbs on and mates for almost exactly ten seconds, during which time he transfers all the sperm that she will use during her (up to) 20-year lifespan. Then she lets go of the substrate and falls to the ground, and by the time she gets there, he has disengaged and (we think) gone off in search of other virgin females. She immediately reaches up with her legs and breaks off her wings, and starts out in search of small unoccupied ant-acacias to start a new colony. She can search for at least 30 days without food or water, living off of her reserves (this can be shown by confining her in a glass tube in the laboratory - it is not known how long she lives in nature, nor whether she would feed on anything). Since she has no wings, her search is by walking through the foliage and across the ground - a behavior that makes her potential prey for a very large number of small predators. Colony founding will be discussed below, after bringing the young ant-acacia on the scene. | ||
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