News in Brief Animals

Ant sperm swim as a team

Bundles wriggle faster, may fertilize eggs better than solo gametes

ALL TOGETHER NOW  Sperm from the desert ant Cataglyphis savignyi bunch together in groups. Extra sperm tails make for speedier swimming.

D. Monteyne and D. Perez-Morga/Pearcy et al

By Bethany Brookshire

- More than 2 years ago

A sperm swim team could make a desert ant a reproductive winner. A study published June 10 in Biology Letters finds that grouping sperm together in many-cell masses makes them swim faster, with possibly better reproductive results.