Questions about Nuptial Flights

[notmyidea]

So I recorded some video of a Nuptial Flight (I believe Lasius) , and have a couple of questions:

Do queens normally cooperate in digging (as seen in the beginning of the video)?

Do only the queens break off their wings? Do the males just drop dead, wings and all after mating?

My vid:

[ooper01]

Cool video!

[notmyidea]

Yes, it's normal. It's called pleometrosis when several queens dig a nest and raise brood together. Some species live with many queens while some kill all but one (strongest one) when the workers are born.

Thanks for the info. Hmmm, I thought Lasius was monogynous. Are these not Lasius??