Yes, male ants have sperm. They are haploid, meaning they only have one copy of each chromosome, unlike most organisms that have two. As a result, all of their sperm is genetically identical to themselves.
Their primary role is reproduction, and they die shortly after mating. However, their sperm can live on for years, fertilizing the queen ant's eggs.
The queen ant stores the sperm in a special pouch called a spermatheca, which allows her to control the release of sperm and fertilize eggs over a long period. This means that even though a queen ant only mates once, she can lay thousands of eggs throughout her lifetime, all of which have different fathers because of the diverse sperm stored within her spermatheca.
While male ants are short-lived, their sperm plays a crucial role in the colony's success by ensuring genetic diversity.
