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Psyche 
[Vol. 92 
returned. After 30 minutes, the radioactivity in each virgin queen 
was measured (Trial A). The queen was redipped and placed in a 
clean divided box with new workers, virgin queens, and larvae from 
the same source colony. Food ( Heliothis pupae) was added to the 
queenright side (Trial B) and the experiment repeated. Subsequent 
trials were conducted with food on the queenless side (Trial C), and, 
after removing the workers tending the virgin queens, placing food 
with the virgin queens (Trial D) and placing food on the queenright 
side (Trial E). These trials were repeated using five other source 
colonies for a total of 6 replications. Results were analyzed using 
Scheffe’s test to compare mean cpm (counts per minute) per virgin 
queen. 
Each mother queen was weighed as a measure of her degree of 
ovary development and the quantity of radiolabel removed after 
each trial determined. Weight loss in fire ant queens is correlated 
with loss of fecundity and diminished production of inhibitory pri- 
mer pheromone (Fletcher and Blum 1983). Thus, the weight of our 
queens could affect the quantity of radiolabel removed and the 
number of virgin queens labeled. 
Results 
Rate of transfer of food and surface materials. 
Using radiolabeled protein we determined how rapidly radioactiv- 
ity was distributed from various sources to the virgin queens. When 
radiolabeled egg yolk or egg albumin was placed in the foraging 
chamber, 60-100% of the alates sampled contained radiolabel after 
15 min. During the first two trials, egg yolk was fed more rapidly to 
virgin queens than was albumin (F, 4 = 217.3, p < 0.001)(Figs. 1, 
2). In addition, the amount of radiolabel retained indicated that 
virgin queens received 5-30 times more egg yolk by weight than 
albumin, reinforcing our observations that albumin was not 
brought into the nest as readily as egg yolk (data not shown). The 
location of the mated queen in the nest with respect to the virgin 
queens tested did not significantly affect the distribution of food. 
During the third trial (C) we noticed that some of the virgin queens 
in our nests were dealating, indicating that they were no longer 
receiving adequate levels of pheromone from the mated queen. This 
was possibly due to weight losses sustained by the queens of 20-30% 
before beginning the last trial (Fletcher and Blum 1981b). During 
