294 
Psyche 
[Vol. 94 
This paper presents the results of three experiments designed to 
elucidate the relationship between enslavement and pupae accept- 
ance in Polygerus and their Formica hosts. Experiment 1 explored 
the parameters of intraspecific pupae-acceptance of slave species in 
their free-living state. Experiment 2 considered whether association 
with the slave makers causes a change in the pupae-acceptance 
behavior of the slave species. Field studies by Talbot (1967), Cool- 
Kwait & Topoff (1984), and Topoff, LaMon, Goodloe, & Goldstein 
(1984), showed that much of the brood retrieved by the raiders is 
consumed. Since raiders obtain all food from their slaves, it is the 
slaves who are consuming the captured pupae. 
The Long Island habitat of P. lucidus is unique in that it contains 
at least three slave species of Formica. In the nests of neighboring 
facultative raiders, it is common to find more than one slave species, 
while P. lucidus is found with only one. Previous research (Goodloe, 
Sanwald, & Topoff, 1987) has shown that a P. lucidus colony will 
almost exclusively raid colonies of the same slave species present in 
their nest. Another factor that might foster the host-specificity of P. 
lucidus would be differential consumption of captured pupae. If a 
species other than the slave species currently in residence is raided, 
brood from this raid might be more likely to be consumed. Experi- 
ment 3 examined whether pupae from different host species would 
be differentially consumed in P. lucidus colonies. 
Experiment 1: Intraspecific Pupae Exchange 
(Free-Living Formica ) 
Methods and materials 
Seven free-living colonies of F. schaufussi (a slave species of P. 
lucidus) were collected near Rocky Point in Suffolk County, N.Y., 
during the summers of 1983 and 1984, and were maintained in the 
laboratory. The colonies were kept in 21.6 X 29.2 cm plastic boxes, 
with approximately 1 cm of fresh sand covering the bottom. The 
sides of the boxes were coated with polytetrafluorethylene to pre- 
vent the ants from escaping. Within each box, a 150 mm plastic petri 
dish, containing a white hydroset substrate of approximately 5 mm 
in depth to retain moisture, served as a nest. Honey, water, and 
Tenebrio larvae were provided ad libitum. 
