1985] 
Sorensen, Fletcher, & Vinson — Solenopsis 
61 
Figure I. Linear regression analyses on the cumulative number of virgin queens 
receiving radiolabel during the first trial (A) after the introduction of radiolabeled 
egg yolk (E) or radiolabeled egg albumin (alb), the reintroduction of the live mated 
queen (LQ) or freshly killed mated queen (DQ) surface labeled with radiolabel or the 
introduction of a glass rod (GR), 2 dead major workers (MW), or a dead dewinged 
virgin queen (DVQ) surface labeled with radiolabel. A total of 10 virgin queens were 
sampled in each colony at 1 5 min intervals for a total of 1 20 virgin queens over the 2 
h period. Slopes of the underlined groups do not differ at p < 0.05 (Newman-Keuls 
Test). 
these trials the quantity of food fed to the virgin queens dropped 
significantly (p < .05) although the majority were still fed (data not 
shown). 
Virgin queens became radiolabeled more rapidly from the surface 
of dead queens than from the surface of live queens in two of the 
three trials (Figs. 1, 2). In the third trial, significantly more virgin 
queens received radiolabel from the surface of the live queen than 
from the dead queen (Fig. 3). Virgin queens in the same nest as the 
queen did not receive significantly more radioactivity than virgin 
queens in the second nest (data not shown). 
There was marked variation in the rate at which radiolabel was 
transferred to virgin queens from the surface of a small glass rod, 2 
