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Psyche 
[Vol. 91 
Leptothorax curvispinosus (Wilson and Fagen, 1974) to 8 in Orec- 
tognalhus versicolor (Carlin, 1981), 9 in the slavemaking species, 
Leptothorax duloticus (Wilson and Fagen, 1974), and 16 in the 
primitive ponerine, Amhlyopone pallipes (Traniello, 1982). In 
respect to other ant species, then, the repertoire size of P. scabrius- 
culus queens appears to be average. In comparison to the queen of 
Z. various, however, the queen of P. scahriusculus is much less 
behaviorally specialized. 
Variation in behavior of individual queens 
To determine if there were differences in the behavior of individ- 
ual queens that might reflect reproductive dominance, queens were 
marked with colored paint and the acts of each recorded for 15.5 
hours of the study. The most common acts in which queens partici- 
pated were soliciting liquid food from workers, soliciting liquid food 
from larvae, self-grooming movements, and being groomed by a 
worker (Table 2). For comparison, the average number of similar 
acts recorded for workers during the same 15.5 hour period is also 
shown in Table 2. 
The 6 queens showed considerable variation in their rates of solic- 
iting liquid food. A chi-square test showed that pattern of queen 
behavior was significantly different from an even distribution for 
both soliciting food from workers (p<0.025) and soliciting food 
from larvae (p<0.005). The amount of food that queens were able 
to collect from workers and larvae could be directly associated with 
rank, the amount being an indication of resources convertible to 
Table 2. Behavior of individual queens. Values given are actual numbers of acts 
in a category that were performed by each individual in 15.5 hours of observation. 
The average queen values are means of acts performed by the six queens. The value 
for average worker is the number of acts in a category performed by workers in 15.5 
hours of observation divided by the number of workers (n=62). Queens solicited 
from larva by antennating and licking larvae around the mouth. Workers licked 
larvae as part of brood care and did not concentrate in the head region. Values of p 
for differences among queens were determined using a chi-squared test. 
Queen # 
1 
2 
3 
4 
5 
6 
av. 
queen 
av. 
worker 
P 
Solicit from worker 
13 
16 
5 
23 
9 
1 1 
13 
7 
<.025 
Solicit from lick larva 
7 
12 
7 
25 
13 
10 
12 
4 
<.005 
Self-groom 
12 
10 
12 
4 
8 
2 
8 
25 
<.005 
Groomed by worker 
26 
39 
40 
35 
43 
31 
36 
15 
ns 
