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KYOTO, Japan, Aug. 18 (UPI) -- When male termites are left without a mate, they are forced to pair off and form a nest with another male. Homosexual termites wreck the nests of heterosexual couples. Even worse, they commit murder. New research suggests mateless male Japanese termites have a better chance of survival with a same-sex companion than without.
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"Male termites aren't able to survive on their own, but those that make nests with another male survived for much longer," Nobuaki Mizumoto, a scientist at Kyoto University, explained in a news release.
But as Mizumoto and his colleagues observed, pairs of nesting males don't become lovers, but partners in crime. The pairs raid the nests of happy couples and kill the male, allowing one of the two to mate with the widowed female. These violent escapades would likely be too risky to carry out solo.
"This was especially beneficial in situations when searching for females raises the risk of being preyed upon," Mizumoto said. "It's clear that male-male pairing is a strategy for survival."
The findings, detailed in the journal Animal Behaviour, confirm the hypothesis of the Kyoto researchers -- that homosexual coupling can have evolutionary benefits for invertebrates.
Previous research has revealed the advantages of homosexuality among mammals and birds, but many scientists suggested same-sex coupling among insects was mostly the result of mistaken identity.
"Pairing with another male isn't the best option, but it gives mate-less termites a chance to survive until they find a female, if that happens at all," concluded Mizumoto. "To understand this behavior further, it will be important to consider the effects of other factors such as predators."
