{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]],"date-time":"2026-07-30T12:27:50Z","timestamp":1785414470739,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":44,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,8]],"date-time":"2026-04-08T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1775606400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100007128","name":"Natural Science Foundation of Shaanxi Province","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["2025JC-YBMS-247"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2025JC-YBMS-247"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100007128","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100002858","name":"China Postdoctoral Science Foundation","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["2025M774349"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2025M774349"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100002858","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"award":["2025M774349"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2025M774349"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/0426zh255","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100002663","name":"Northwestern Polytechnical University","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["CX2024100"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["CX2024100"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100002663","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"award":["CX2024100"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["CX2024100"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/01y0j0j86","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"Xi\u2019an International University","award":["XAIU202302"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["XAIU202302"]}]},{"award":["XAIU202302"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["XAIU202302"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/02w30qy89","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Insects"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Same-sex sexual behavior is an enigma in behavioral ecology as it does not result in reproduction. Previous studies on the evolution of same-sex sexual behavior have primarily focused on factors such as recognition mechanisms, resource constraints, and challenges in securing an opposite-sex partner, while overlooking the investigation into active same-sex sexual behavior without environmental stress. Here, through experimentation, we investigated the stability of same-sex pairs in tandem running, the mating behavior of pairs that form same-sex tandem runs, and the occurrence of same-sex sexual behavior (SSB) when opposite-sex partners are available. Results indicated that while the stability of same-sex tandems is lower than that of opposite-sex tandems, both males and females are capable of expressing sex-specific behaviors typical of the opposite sex and forming same-sex tandems. Notably, SSB was observed not only in same-sex pairing contexts but also when individuals had the autonomy to choose between same-sex and opposite-sex partners. These results demonstrate that same-sex sexual behavior in termites is not a behavioral response to environmental stress (e.g., the absence of opposite-sex partners) but rather an actively expressed behavior. These findings highlight the role of sex role plasticity in the evolution of same-sex sexual behavior, providing a new mechanistic perspective for understanding same-sex sexual behavior in social insects.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/insects17040400","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,8]],"date-time":"2026-04-08T09:49:44Z","timestamp":1775641784000},"page":"400","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Prevalence of Same-Sex Sexual Behavior in Termites: Persistence Under Mate-Seeking Stress Absence"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Yong-Hui","family":"Wang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Medicine, Shaanxi Institute of International Trade and Commerce, Xianyang 712046, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0001-8195-2147","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Huan","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Life Science and Technology, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi\u2019an 710129, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jia","family":"Wu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Pharmacy, Shaanxi Institute of International Trade and Commerce, Xianyang 712046, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Bei","family":"Du","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Pharmacy, Shaanxi Institute of International Trade and Commerce, Xianyang 712046, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ya-Lin","family":"Xiao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Life Science and Technology, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi\u2019an 710129, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xin-Yue","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Life Science and Technology, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi\u2019an 710129, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ya-Nan","family":"Dong","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Life Science and Technology, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi\u2019an 710129, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,8]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1622","DOI":"10.1038\/s41559-019-1019-7","article-title":"An alternative hypothesis for the evolution of same-sex sexual behaviour in animals","volume":"3","author":"Monk","year":"2019","journal-title":"Nat. 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