Why males of leafcutter bees hold the females' antennae with there front legs during mating

Abstract

Epidermal odor glands were found in the front leg basitarsi of males of various subgenera of leafcutter bees from the Old and New World. In these males, the legs, the mandibles and the head capsules are modified. During mating these structures are used by the male to grasp the female and bring the antennae of the female in close contact with the openings of the basitarsal odor glands of the front legs. Odor glands and analogous modifications of associated body structures were also found in xylocopine bees and in a sphecid wasp. © 1995.