1985] 
Pollock & Rissing — Veromessor 
129 
Table I. Reproductive investment of Veromessor pergandei colonies according 
to sex. 1 
Collection 
Date 
1984 
No. 
Alates 
% 
Male 
Mean Mass 
oe Males 
mg 
(N; SD) 
Mean Mass 
oe Females 
mg 
(N; SD) 
Investment 
Ratio 
mg :mg 
29 January 
201 
17.4 
5.666 
(33:0.432) 
19.686 
(129:1.333) 
16.5 
3 February 
104 
100.0 
6.378 
(87:0.407) 
0.0 
3 February 
122 
27.0 
6.231 
(31:0.417) 
20.536 
(66:1.090) 
8.9 
3 February 
NO 
10.0 
7.086 
(1 1:0.388) 
20.560 
(77:1.060) 
26.1 
6 February 
169 
33.1 
5.812 
(49:0.498) 
19.953 
(93:0.942) 
6.9 
7 February 
486 
30.0 
5.724 
(1 10:0.466) 
19.098 
(164:1.190) 
7.8 
26 February 
335 
26.0 
5.859 
(69:0.428) 
20.576 
(151:0.870) 
10.0 
26 February 
90 
100.0 
5.671 
(85:0.408) 
0.0 
'Only colonies from which more than 50 alates were collected are reported. 
Veromessor pergandei seems similar to the honey ant Myrmeco- 
cystus mimicus in its founding behavior. Both species form pleome- 
trotic nests (Fig. 2; Wheeler 1917, Bartz and Holldobler 1982); natal 
nests of both species are also clumped. Bartz and Holldobler (1982) 
suggest that clumping of M. mimicus natal nests is due to avoidance 
of adult conspecific colonies by at least some founding queens, for 
adult colonies destroy any conspecific colonies they find (Holl- 
dobler 1981, Bartz and Holldobler 1982). Hence local queen den- 
sity rises in those areas lacking an adult colony, increasing both the 
probability of pleometrosis and local density of natal nests. Our 
observations suggest a different mechanism must exist for V. per- 
gandei , for here queen density is uncorrelated with pleometrosis. 
Further, natal nests do not avoid areas near adult colonies. This is 
noteworthy, for we have seen foraging columns of adult V. pergan- 
dei colonies destroy natal nests. Nonetheless, natal nests were regu- 
larly found within the foraging radius of an adult colony; often all 
queens found after a flight were within such a radius. 
