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these contained supernumerary eggs (Fig. 2). In a sample of 119 
small cells containing eggs, up to 5 eggs/ cell were present ( 1 .9 ± 0.89 
eggs/ cell). Most of these eggs were positioned high on the cell walls. 
Forty-one percent of the small cells contained no brood or eggs. 
Most of these empty cells had reduced cell walls or were papered 
over indicating disuse at the time of collection (Duncan, 1939). 
The sex ratio of pupae and pharate adults in capped small cells is 
presented in Table 2. Note that more than half of the capped brood 
sampled were males. 
We counted 744 large cells (5.8 ± 0.20 mm in diameter between 
parallel sides, range 5.4-6. 1 mm, n = 22) in the nest (Table 1); these 
were located on 8 comb fragments, 2 of which contained exclusively 
large cells. Over one-third (34.5%) of the large cells were empty; 
some had been papered over and the cell walls reduced. Of the 
49.6% of large cells with eggs, 1 6.5% contained supernumerary eggs. 
One small comb of 29 cells appeared newly constructed. The paper 
was light and fragile, no meconia were present, cells on the perime- 
ter were shallow, and each cell contained a single egg. 
The capped large cells contained predominantly queen pupae and 
pharate adults (Table 2), but a large percentage (30.4%) were males. 
Adult inhabitants 
An estimated total of 11,817 ± 210 (95% confidence interval) 
adult wasps were collected (Table 2). Of these adults, 25.8 ± 2.9% 
(95% Cl) were males. Of the remaining female adults, only 23 were 
queens. An undetermined number of flying workers and males were 
not captured as the nest was collected. 
We dissected all 23 queens found within the colony. Fifteen of 
these queens had undeveloped ovaries; only one of these was insem- 
inated. Six queens were inseminated and possessed well developed 
ovaries. Two queens were classified as senescent. One of these had 
well developed ovaries but had no spermatozoa in her spermatheca; 
the oviducts appeared degenerated, pigmented, and clogged. Very 
little fat body was present. The other queen, found in the bottom 
third of the nest cavity, had apparently been dead for some time. 
Some abdominal sclerites had been punctured and the viscera were 
desiccated. One wing was missing while the other was very frayed. 
Both senescent queens and the six inseminated queens with devel- 
oped ovaries had frayed wings and abdominal cuticular markings 
characteristic of physogastric, aged queens (Spradbery, 1973a). 
