1967] 
Talbot — Polyergus 
313 
Once, by mistake, members of the 0-26 colony entered a nest of 
F. fusca Linne. They were engaged in a fight and succeeded in taking 
away only 4 pupae. 
Ordinarily a column of Polyergus did not disturb other ants which 
they passed by; but when some individuals aroused a F. subintegra- 
F. fusca colony by investigating openings in the nest, they were at- 
tacked by both species of the mixed colony and some were killed. 
Once F. obscuriventris Forel workers intercepted Polyergus individ- 
uals returning home with brood and hijacked a few pupae. 
SUMMARY 
At the Edwin S. George Reserve, in southern Michigan, slave- 
making raids of the ant Polyergus lucidus Mayr took place in the late 
afternoon (3:06-7:30 PM), at high to medium temperatures (91 0 - 
67°F) and reduced light (6,300-216 foot-candles). The slave ants 
were Formica pallidefulva nitidiventris Emery, but F. neogagates 
Emery and F. lasioides Emery were also raided by some colonies. 
It was concluded that scouts individually find nests and lay odor 
trails back to the home colony. Raiding groups go directly to the nests 
to be plundered. Pheromone trails, which ants would follow, could 
be made from a solution of Polyergus workers crushed in dichloro- 
methane. A raid on a F. p. nitidiventris colony, in a box placed 6 
feet away, was induced in this manner. 
The raiding season began in mid- June and lasted into September. 
It coincided with the time when the slave species had pupae in the 
nest. It was estimated that about 50 raids could be made in an 85- 
day season. On some days double, or even triple, raids occurred. 
Distances traveled to a raided colony ranged from 15 to 286 feet. 
Ants in a raiding group traveled about 3 feet a minute. An entire 
raid might be finished in 20 minutes or might take as long as 2 hours 
and 19 minutes. The mean time was one hour. 
References 
Creighton, W. S. 
1950. The ants of North America. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. 104: 1-585. 
Dobrzanska S. and S. Dobrzanski. 
1960. Ouelques nouvelles remarques sur V ethologie de Polyergus ru- 
denscens Latr. (Hymenoptere , Formicidae) . Insectes Sociaux 7: 
1 - 8 . 
Forel, A. 
1928. The social world of ants. F. P. Putnam’s Sons, London and New 
York. (Translation by C. K. Ogden). 
Wheeler, W. M. 
1910. Ants. Their structure, development and behavior. Columbia Uni- 
versity Press. 
