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Psyche 
[Vol. 90 
generally representative of their size classes. In 1978 nest 83 (44 
cells) and nest 22 (220 cells) and in 1979 nest 27 (345 cells) were 
observed (Fig. 1). Contents of cells were scored every other day on a 
cell map, and numbers of females associated with the nest were 
marked and counted. Nest 22 was observed from 12 June to 14 
August; nest 83 was observed from 19 June to 14 August; and nest 
27 was observed from 6 June to 18 August. From mid June to mid 
August mean daily termperatures changed very little. Average 
monthly temperatures were 23.5° C for June, 24.7° C for July and 
24.8° C for August (30 year averages for Austin, Texas, National 
Weather Service). When an adult emerged from a cell an egg was 
laid in it so all cells contained brood. In the rest of this paper the 
nests will be referred to as the small (nest 83) medium (nest 22) and 
large (nest 27) nest. 
For the purposes of analysis the medium and large nests were 
divided into 4 regions, and the small nest was divided into 3 regions 
(Fig. 1). The regions were chosen by first mapping development 
times of brood in every cell on a cell map, and then choosing regions 
that were homogeneous within themselves and as different as pos- 
sible from other regions. This technique maximized the probability 
that differences among regions would be found. On all nests region 
1 is the oldest, directly in front of the nest pedicel. Region 2 is the 
center of the nest. Regions 3 and 4 are edge regions. The medium 
nest may appear in the figure to have two lobes to it but they were 
actually contiguous. The cells were deformed somewhat due to 
contact with 1 inch chicken wire mesh which ran down the center of 
the nest. 
Large sample sizes, normal distribution of data and nearly equal 
variances allowed us to use parametric statistics in this study. 
Because of its size the small nest was omitted from some of the 
analyses. All statistical analyses were performed using Statistical 
Analysis System (SAS) or Statistical Package for the Social 
Sciences (SPSS). 
Results 
Average development times of eggs varied from 9 to 14 days 
depending on the nest (Table 1). Eggs took significantly longer to 
develop on the small nest (small compared to medium nest t = 5.45. 
