Fate of Drone after Mating with Queen
When a virgin queen goes for mating flight, she mates with several drones in a site where thousands of drones may be waiting. A male drone will mount the queen and insert his endophallus to ejaculate semen. The endophallus, which is held internally in the drone, disperses a large quantity of seminal fluid and spermatozoa with great speed and force. During mating, the organ is everted (turned inside out) into the queen, which is achieved by contracting abdominal muscles, that increases hemolymph pressure, effectively "inflating" the endophallus. There is a structure called Cornua claspers present at the base of the endophallus which help to grip the queen. The drone is paralyzed once the endophallus is everted, flipping backwards as he ejaculates. During ejaculation, semen is blasted through the queen’s sting chamber and into the oviduct. The process may sometimes produce audible "popping" sound. The ejaculation is so powerful that it ruptures the endophallus, disc...