1986] 
Ward — Rhytidoponera me tallica 
1 
Figure 1 . Colony size (number of adult workers) of developing, queenright colo- 
nies of R. metallica and R. chalybaea, as a function of time in weeks since colony 
initiation. 
at the same time she was being spread-eagled by two workers who 
were tugging on opposite legs. Ten minutes later the queen was 
dragged and bitten on the tip of her gaster by a worker. The follow- 
ing day the queen was still being molested by workers, who bit her 
on the legs and gaster. On January 24, the queen was found dead 
inside the nest. A few days later her disarticulated body had been 
dumped in a midden pile in one corner of the foraging arena. In the 
meantime there began a spate of intersibling rivalry among a group 
of 15-20 workers inside the nest who repeatedly “boxed” one 
another with their antennae. These rapid antennation movements 
were very similar to those which occur among mated workers in 
polygynous, worker-reproductive colonies of the R. impressa group 
(Ward, 1983, p. 293). 
One week after the death of the queen in colony #6280, workers 
began “calling” for males in the characteristic sex pheromone- 
