Memoirs of the Queensland Museum – Nature 67

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 a specimen of 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 where male traits are explicitly restricted to the specimen’s left side (although some female characters are also present). No male morphology is externally apparent on its right side. Potential implications of gynandromorphism in relation to colony-level social interaction and individual behaviour within the genus Dolichoderus are also briefly discussed. This record contributes to the limited reports of gynandromorphism in the Formicidae and for the genus Dolichoderus.