Morphology and behavior of ergatandromorph in Camponotus yamaokai Terayama & Satoh, 1990 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

ABSTRACT

Ergatandromorphs are examples of genetic chimeras found in ants, in which they exhibit features of both minor workers and males. In this study, we report a lateral ergatandromorph of Camponotus yamaokai Terayama & Satoh, 1990. The right side of this specimen was characterized as a male and the left side as a minor worker, although some body parts did not show a clear division. The specimen had partially atrophied genitalia on the right side of the metasoma while the genital structures on the left side were absent. The individual engaged in frequent self‐grooming and received trophallaxis and allogrooming from the nestmates. This is the first report of the lateral ergatandromorph in the genus Camponotus, which has few documented cases of gynandromorphism.