1988] Lenoir, Qaerard, Pondicq, & Berton — Cataglyphis 31 
Table 2. Number of alien workers leaving or entering nests 0 or 1 (duration of 
observations 1 h by periods of 5 mn during the day). 
Date 
Ants from nest 1 at 
entrance of nest 0 
Ants from nest 0 at 
entrance of nest 1 
22/7/83 
136 
36 
23 
33 
3 
25 
17 
65 
26 
34 
44 
27 
55 
38 
28 
21 
12 
29 
84 
12 
mean 
54.3 
30 
nb workers of colony 1: 750 colony 0: 1500 
The two new nests were much less active and nest 1 1 was closed 
before the end of the five days observation. Nest 10 closed a few 
days later and was in fact a secondary nest for colony 0 (when we 
dug we found superficial galleries connecting 0 and 10). Neverthe- 
less, it was surprising to observe above-ground cocoon transport 
between the two nests. Nests 10 and 1 1 were abandoned after their 
closing. Some exchanges were also observed between more distant 
nests (4.4 m apart). In another case cocoon transport was observed 
between two colonies 60 cm apart (each colony had its own queen). 
Some transport of prey was also observed here, which could be 
interpreted as intercolonial robbing. This phenomenon seems to be 
frequent in some ponerine species, e.g. Ectatomma tuberculatum 
(Lachaud pers. comm.). 
These observations can be explained by the mode of foundation 
of new colonies: it is probable that colonies 1 and 0 are sister colo- 
nies, given that they keep strong links. The workers probably have a 
similar colony odor and do not attack each other, which may permit 
robbing of cocoons or prey. It is more difficult to interpret the late 
budding trials for nests 10 and 11. When workers occupy a new nest 
for several days, they transport cocoons. If there is no queen availa- 
ble, they abandon the provisional nest (84 workers were marked at 
the entrance to nest 11; when it was excavated we found only 4 
workers). This reflects a tendency toward budding to form new 
societies after the mating season. Other budding trials were 
observed: one with 4 workers and 5 cocoons, another with 30 
workers and a few cocoons, another completely abandoned. 
