Atta texana

A male leafcutter ant falls to the ground after a dawn mating flight. Austin, Texas, USA.

This male Aenictogiton arrived at a mercury-vapor lamp at dusk in a western Ugandan forest. Kibale Forest, Uganda

A male Pogonomyrmex badius, the Florida harvester ant. Archbold Biological Station, Florida, USA

An Aenictus male. Kibale Forest, Uganda

Male ants often look little like their sisters. This is an Odontomachus sp. trap-jaw ant. Cambodia (Laboratory colony at the University of Illinois)

Male ants are specialized for mating and dispersal and often appear vastly different from their sisters. The little winged insect at center is a male Odontomachus sp. trap-jaw ant; the rest are female workers. Cambodia (Laboratory colony at the University of Illinois)

Male and female Forelius mccooki in the nest. Tucson, Arizona, USA

Male leaf-cutting ants (Acromyrmex versicolor) lek above the desert floor, awaiting virgin queens who fly into the swarm to mate. Tucson, Arizona, USA

Acromyrmex versicolor male Tucson, Arizona, USA

A queen leafcutter ant (Acromyrmex versicolor) falls to the ground surrounded by multiple males attempting to mate with her. Leafcutter females typically mate with many males. Tucson, Arizona, USA

Male Dorylus are sometimes called "sausage flies" for their unique shape. Kibale Forest, Uganda

Myrmecologist Jack Longino takes a good look at a male Dorylus driver ant. These enormous insects are specialized for dispersal and mating, looking very little like their more typycally ant-like sisters. Kibale Forest, Uganda

Caste in the carpenter ant Camponotus discolor: male (left), queen (right), worker (bottom). Louisiana, USA

Mating Acropyga epedana ants, the queen carrying a mealybug in her mandibles. Acropyga live nearly entirely by consuming secretions of root-feeding mealybugs, and the mealybugs depend on the ants for dispersal and protection. When young queen ants leave the nest to mate and start new colonies, they take a mealybug with them. Portal, Arizona, USA

Neivamyrmex harrisi is one of the most commonly seen army ant males that fly to lights at night in Arizona. Although the workers of this species are known, they are not often seen as they are largely subterranean. Many army ant species are only known from either males or from workers, leading to a confusing double taxonomy where the same biological species has a male and a female name. Pima County, Arizona, USA

A male thatch mound ant (Formica integroides) climbs sagebrush to launch himself on a morning mating flight in California's Sierra Nevada. Sagehen Creek, California, USA

Hypoponera opacior ergatoid male. Most ant males are wasp-like and winged, adapted for dispersing away from their home nest to mate with queens from other colonies. But some Hypoponera males like the one shown here are inbreeding specialists. These pale creatures are worker-like in appearance and mate with their sisters in the nest. Archbold Biological Station, Florida, USA

Hypoponera opacior, worker and ergatoid male. Most ant males are wasp-like and winged, adapted for dispersing away from their home nest to mate with queens from other colonies. But some Hypoponera males are inbreeding specialists. These pale creatures are worker-like in appearance and mate with their sisters in the nest. Archbold Biological Station, Florida, USA

Doleromyrma darwiniana male and female alates in the nest. Yandoit, Victoria, Australia

Iridomyrmex calvus

Male (winged, left) and worker ants scale vegetation near their nest during a mid-day mating flight. Tower Hill Reserve, Victoria, Australia.

Pheidole tetra

A male ant in the nest. Brackenridge Field Laboratory, Texas, USA.

Odontomachus clarus. Male ants betray the wasp ancestry of ants, often bearing little resemblance to the females of the species. This is a male of the desert trap-jaw ant. Tucson, Arizona, USA

Pogonomyrmex striatinodus

A presumed male of the rainforest harvester Pogonomyrmex striatinodus sits on an understory leaf in a tropical cloud forest. Mindo, Pichincha, Ecuador.

Pachycondyla harpax

A male huntress ant climbs the outside wall of the Brackenridge Field Laboratory in Texas to depart on a mating flight.