AsianScientist (Aug. 25, 2016) – Termites not only invade people’s homes, but also the humble abodes of other happy termite couples—and male termites may pair up with their own gender to do so, according to a study published in Animal Behavior.
The evolutionary paradox of homosexuality has long puzzled biologists. Recent research suggests that there are benefits associated with homosexuality, at least for mammals and birds. As for invertebrates like insects, experts have considered that homosexual behavior results from an inopportune mis-recognition of males as females.
But lead scientist Dr. Nobuaki Mizumoto and colleagues at Kyoto University in Japan discovered that male termites are not that unobservant. Male termites behaved differently toward males and females, and when coupling with males, they didn’t act as though they were mistaking them for females.
In the study, the researchers reported that homosexual male termites built nests together, just like heterosexual couples.
“Male termites aren’t able to survive on their own, but those that make nests with another male survived for much longer,” said Mizumoto.
“This was especially beneficial in situations when searching for females raises the risk of being preyed upon. It’s clear that male-male pairing is a strategy for survival.”
The team found that once workers from the heterosexual couple’s colony began digging tunnels to patrol, a male-male pair would travel back through the tunnel to invade the heterosexual couple’s nest. From genetic analyses of subsequent offspring, the scientists found that only one of the invading males mated with the female.
According to the researchers, pairing with another male isn’t the best option, but it gives mateless termites a chance to survive until they find a female, if that happens at all.
The article can be found at: Mizumoto et al. (2016) Male Same-sex Pairing as an Adaptive Strategy for Future Reproduction in Termites.
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Source: Kyoto University.
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