1956] 
Talbot — Dolichoderus flight 
137 
(Table I). After a cold night flying was delayed, but if 
the night had been warm it began while the morning 
light was still dim. Ants were not found outside the nest 
at 55° or lower but could walk on the mound at 56° or 
57°. Sometimes they could begin climbing slowly at these 
temperatures, but usually the migration upward did not 
start until 59° was reached. Males and females both 
climbed at these low temperatures, but at first males greatly 
Table I. Temperatures at which flight activities oc- 
curred for the ant Dolichoderus mariae Forel. Edwin S. 
George Reserve, Livingston County, Michigan. 1954. 
Range 
Median 
Winged ants began to emerge from nest 
56°-58°F 
57°F 
Winged ants began to climb grasses 
56°-61°F 
59°F 
Beginning of flights 
male 
58°-67°F 
60°F 
female 
63°-67°F 
64°F 
End of flights 
male 
63°~71°F 
66°F 
female 
67°-74°F 
69°F 
outnumbered females on the leaves. 
Fortunately, the 
position of the nest, on a slope facing northwest, kept it 
in shade during early morning and allowed temperatures 
to rise slowly enough so that a difference in the reac- 
tion of males and females could be distinguished. Males 
could begin flying as early as 58° but they usually waited 
until the temperature reached 59° or 60°. Only once did 
they delay beginning their flight until it was above 64°. 
That was a morning of dense fog when none flew until 
67°. Females never began flying before 63°. When tem- 
peratures rose rapidly after a cold night, the two might 
begin flying at almost the same time, but if temperatures 
hovered between 58° and 63°, males might fly for 20 or 
30 minutes before females began. One overcast morning 
there was an exclusively male flight because temperatures 
never rcse above 64°, and all of the females walked back 
down from the vegetation into the nest. The earliest that 
males began to fly was 5:28 a.m. (67°) and the latest 
