First Report of Bilateral Gynandromorphism in the Australian Ant, Dolichoderus scrobiculatus (Mayr, 1876) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Liam Robert Falls

Gynandromorphism is a rare developmental phenomenon producing genetically chimeric individuals expressing both male and female phenotypes simultaneously. Here, I describe the morphological anomalies arising from a case of bilateral worker-male gynandromorphism in the Australian ant Dolichoderus scrobiculatus (Mayr, 1876), collected during a pitfall survey of native ant fauna. The specimen exhibits a pronounced bilateral mosaic distribution of morphological sex characters along the longitudinal body axis: male traits are explicitly restricted to the right side, although some female characters are also present there, while no male morphology is externally apparent on the left. Potential implications of the condition in relation to colony-level social interaction and individual behaviour are discussed. This record contributes to the limited number of reports of gynandromorphism in the Formicidae and for the genus Dolichoderus.