SLAVE-RAIDS OF 
THE ANT POLYERGUS LUCIDUS MAYR* 
By Mary Talbot 
Lindenwood College, St. Charles, Missouri 
Since slave-making raids of the genus Polyergus are conspicuous 
and spectacular, they have been studied by a number of myrmecolo- 
gists. Among these are Wheeler (1910), Forel (1928), Creighton 
(^S 0 )* and Dobrzanska and Dobrzanski (i960). This paper con- 
cerns the eastern “shining slave-maker,” Polyergus lucidus Mayr, on 
the Edwin S. George Reserve in southeastern Michigan (Livingston 
County) . Twenty-five colonies of this species have been found, scat- 
tered quite widely over the fields, on the 2 square miles of the Re- 
serve. Most of the fields tend to be dry, with Canada bluegrass ( Poa 
compressa L.) the dominant grass and with forbes such as wild 
bergamot ( Monarda fistulosa L. ) bush-clover ( Lespedeza virginica 
(L.) Britt.), and goldenrod ( Solidago spp.) common and char- 
acteristic. In addition to this main habitat, Polyergus colonies may 
sometimes be found at woods’ edge, in low wet fields, and in openings 
in oak-hickory woods where blueberries ( V accinium angustifolium 
Ait.), bracken ( Pteridium aquilinium latiusculum (Desv.) Un- 
derw.), sedge ( Carex pennsylvanica Lam.), and mosses are char- 
acteristic. No colony has been found completely within the woods, 
although the slave ant Formica pallidefulva nitidiventris Emery 
sometimes occurs there. 
The slave-raid study was undertaken in the hope of determining 
the time of day of raids and the environmental factors which influ- 
ence the time, the days on which no raids occur and the factors which 
determine this absence, the number of slave colonies used in the sup- 
port of one Polyergus colony, the distances to these colonies and the 
amount of time it took to reach them, the number of raids in a sea- 
son, the number of brood taken, the size and characteristics of a 
raiding force, and the method by which the band of ants could travel 
over a seemingly unknown path to arrive exactly at a, nest to be raided. 
Preliminary studies were made on the Lawn Colony, which lived 
in the cut grass outside the East Gate Laboratory and had been known 
*The facilities of the University of Michigan’s Edwin S. George Reserve 
were made available by the Reserve’s administrators, Dr. F. C. Evans, As- 
sociate Director, and Dr. T. H. Hubbell, Director, and the work was as- 
sisted by a grant from the National Science Foundation. 
Manuscript received by the editor November 27, 1967 
299 
