Fighting and dispersal are alternative male strategies in Cardiocondyla ants

Evidence

10. Cardiocondyla ants produce two types of male, one type that fights and another that does not. Here, too, males develop either with formidable weapons (enlarged heads and jaws), or with wings and wing musculature, but never both. — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 764

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to other examples in this book (and the reader’s interest in warfare evolution) of the fighter-versus-disperser tradeoff seen across species. — connects to: Male combat for mating access frequently causes serious wounds and sometimes death; Males evolve big weapons to defend resources that females visit; Clumped sparse resources make territorial fighting pay off reproductively (+5 more)
• DEFINE: Clarifies the fighter-type versus non-fighter male polymorphism in this ant genus.

Related

• Male combat for mating access frequently causes serious wounds and sometimes death (similarity 0.83)
• Rare and defensible sap flows make male beetle territories worth fighting for (similarity 0.80)
• Males evolve big weapons to defend resources that females visit (similarity 0.80)
• Weapon size is favored when males defend resources females need (similarity 0.79)
• Scarcity of suitable feeding sites drives weapon evolution in harlequin beetles (similarity 0.79)
• In nearly all weaponed species, males carry the weapons, not females. (similarity 0.78)
• Rare localized resources translate fighting success into reproductive success (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Males evolve big weapons to defend resources that females visit #responds-to (0.70)
• Weapon size is favored when males defend resources females need #responds-to (0.65) — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 960
• Clumped sparse resources make territorial fighting pay off reproductively #responds-to (0.60)
• Rare and defensible sap flows make male beetle territories worth fighting for #responds-to (0.60) — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 208
• Scarcity of suitable feeding sites drives weapon evolution in harlequin beetles #responds-to (0.60) — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 206
• Extreme skew in mating success drives arms-race escalation in weaponry #responds-to (0.55)
• Weapons evolved as signals so males could predict fight outcomes before risking battle #responds-to (0.50) — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 370