1976] 
Talbot — Natural History of Formica talbotae 
283 
The parasites were first detected on June 25, 1969, when small 
males were seen coming from a nest of F. obscuripes near the 
end of the flying season of the latter species. In 1970 two more 
mixed colonies were located and all three were studied during 
the summer. By 1971 the two smaller colonies had disappeared, 
but the thriving one was watched until it was dug on August 16, 
1971. By this date a fourth colony had been discovered, and it 
produced males and females until the end of the season but was 
not present in 1972. The fifth colony was found in July of 1974 
and was still vigorous at the end of that year. During these years 
a great many nests of F. obscuripes were checked but no more 
parasitized colonies were recorded. Mixed colonies must be rela- 
tively short-lived since no worker pupae of either species were 
ever found. Thus a colony would become weak and depopulated 
as its F. obscuripes workers were killed during foraging or died 
of old age. 
The first colony found (“cherry nest”) was the smallest. Its 
mound was under the shading branches of a large choke cherry 
tree and was partly overgrown by trailing blackberry. This was 
an abnormally shaded location and the extensive overgrowth 
indicated a weak colony. The “cedar nest” was 25 yards away 
at the base of a red cedar tree. Its thatch was mostly dried cedar 
leaves and was almost flat. It was not overgrown and received 
good morning and evening sun. The “field nest” (the nest dug) 
was again 25 yards away and formed a rough triangle with the 
first two. It was the largest, had a good mound of thatch, and 
occupied a typical habitat. It lay in a high, sunny field of Canada 
bluegrass ( Poa compressa L.) with numerous forbs, such as wild 
bergamot ( Monarda fistulosa L.), daisy-fleabane ( Erigeron stri- 
gosus Muhl.), orange hawk weed ( Hieracium aurantiacum L.), 
yarrow ( Achilles millefolium L.), mullein (Verbascum thapsus 
L.), and goldenrod ( Solidago spp.). Grass circling the mound 
was tall; and it, together with a small shrubby elm, a berga- 
mot, and a goldenrod plant, gave climbing support for flying 
ants and furnished flickering shade for the mound during early 
morning and late afternoon. The fourth colony was almost as 
small as the “cherry nest.” It lay in a lower field about 160 yards 
from the first three and was almost completely overgrown with 
trailing blackberry. The fifth colony, 12 yards beyond in the same 
field, was almost as large as the colony dug. Thus all five colonies 
