---
OA_type: closed access
_id: '3905'
abstract:
- lang: eng
  text: Winged and wingless males coexist in the ant Cardiocondyla obscurior. Wingless
    (“ergatoid”) males never leave their maternal colony and fight remorselessly among
    each other for the access to emerging females. The peaceful winged males disperse
    after about 10 days, but beforehand also mate in the nest. In the first 5 days
    of their life, winged males perform a chemical female mimicry that protects them
    against attack and even makes them sexually attractive to ergatoid males. When
    older, the chemical profile of winged males no longer matches that of virgin females;
    nevertheless, they are still tolerated, which so far has been puzzling. Contrasting
    this general pattern, we have identified a single aberrant colony in which all
    winged males were attacked and killed by the ergatoid males. A comparative analysis
    of the morphology and chemical profile of these untypical attacked winged males
    and the tolerated males from several normal colonies revealed that normal old
    males are still performing some chemical mimicry to the virgin queens, though
    less perfect than in their young ages. The anomalous attacked winged males, on
    the other hand, had a very different odour to the females. Our study thus exemplifies
    that the analysis of rare malfunctioning can add valuable insight on functioning
    under normal conditions and allows the conclusion that older winged males from
    normal colonies of the ant C. obscurior are guarded through an imperfect chemical
    female mimicry, still close enough to protect against attacks by the wingless
    fighters yet dissimilar enough not to elicit their sexual interest.
article_processing_charge: No
article_type: original
author:
- first_name: Sylvia
  full_name: Cremer, Sylvia
  id: 2F64EC8C-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
  last_name: Cremer
  orcid: 0000-0002-2193-3868
- first_name: Patrizia
  full_name: D'Ettorre, Patrizia
  last_name: D'Ettorre
- first_name: Falko
  full_name: Drijfhout, Falko
  last_name: Drijfhout
- first_name: Matthew
  full_name: Sledge, Matthew
  last_name: Sledge
- first_name: Stefano
  full_name: Turillazzi, Stefano
  last_name: Turillazzi
- first_name: Jürgen
  full_name: Heinze, Jürgen
  last_name: Heinze
citation:
  ama: Cremer S, D’Ettorre P, Drijfhout F, Sledge M, Turillazzi S, Heinze J. Imperfect
    chemical female mimicry in males of the ant Cardiocondyla obscurior. <i>Naturwissenschaften</i>.
    2008;95(11):1101-1105. doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-008-0430-8">10.1007/s00114-008-0430-8</a>
  apa: Cremer, S., D’Ettorre, P., Drijfhout, F., Sledge, M., Turillazzi, S., &#38;
    Heinze, J. (2008). Imperfect chemical female mimicry in males of the ant Cardiocondyla
    obscurior. <i>Naturwissenschaften</i>. Springer Nature. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-008-0430-8">https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-008-0430-8</a>
  chicago: Cremer, Sylvia, Patrizia D’Ettorre, Falko Drijfhout, Matthew Sledge, Stefano
    Turillazzi, and Jürgen Heinze. “Imperfect Chemical Female Mimicry in Males of
    the Ant Cardiocondyla Obscurior.” <i>Naturwissenschaften</i>. Springer Nature,
    2008. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-008-0430-8">https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-008-0430-8</a>.
  ieee: S. Cremer, P. D’Ettorre, F. Drijfhout, M. Sledge, S. Turillazzi, and J. Heinze,
    “Imperfect chemical female mimicry in males of the ant Cardiocondyla obscurior,”
    <i>Naturwissenschaften</i>, vol. 95, no. 11. Springer Nature, pp. 1101–1105, 2008.
  ista: Cremer S, D’Ettorre P, Drijfhout F, Sledge M, Turillazzi S, Heinze J. 2008.
    Imperfect chemical female mimicry in males of the ant Cardiocondyla obscurior.
    Naturwissenschaften. 95(11), 1101–1105.
  mla: Cremer, Sylvia, et al. “Imperfect Chemical Female Mimicry in Males of the Ant
    Cardiocondyla Obscurior.” <i>Naturwissenschaften</i>, vol. 95, no. 11, Springer
    Nature, 2008, pp. 1101–05, doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-008-0430-8">10.1007/s00114-008-0430-8</a>.
  short: S. Cremer, P. D’Ettorre, F. Drijfhout, M. Sledge, S. Turillazzi, J. Heinze,
    Naturwissenschaften 95 (2008) 1101–1105.
date_created: 2018-12-11T12:05:48Z
date_published: 2008-08-05T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2026-05-29T09:32:36Z
day: '05'
doi: 10.1007/s00114-008-0430-8
extern: '1'
external_id:
  pmid:
  - '18679638'
intvolume: '        95'
issue: '11'
language:
- iso: eng
month: '08'
oa_version: None
page: 1101 - 1105
pmid: 1
publication: Naturwissenschaften
publication_identifier:
  eissn:
  - 1432-1904
  issn:
  - 0028-1042
publication_status: published
publisher: Springer Nature
publist_id: '2246'
status: public
title: Imperfect chemical female mimicry in males of the ant Cardiocondyla obscurior
type: journal_article
user_id: 317138e5-6ab7-11ef-aa6d-ffef3953e345
volume: 95
year: '2008'
...