Flightless winged females and flight-capable males of the little fire ant Wasmannia auropunctata

In many social insects male and female reproductive individuals are capable of flight during mating seasons. We want to determine the flight capability of winged females and males of the little fire ant Wasmannia auropunctata. We collected little fire ant colonies from the field during the mating season and placed them in an artificial nest box. The day after collection, nest box covers were removed for 10 minutes to allow flight. Since none flew, we then used three different methods to stimulate flight. Individuals were first placed on a flat surface for 10 minutes; if flight did not occur we then stimulated them with a small fan for 10 minutes. In the absence of flight we dropped the individuals from a height of 0.5m. This was repeated daily for one week or until flight occurred. All males flew after being released on the flat surface. We did not see flight by the winged females in any of the trials. This study may shed light on the reproductive strategies of this ant and could have important implications for understanding the success of this invasive species.