1983] 
Herbers — Social Organization in Leptothorax 
363 
Methods 
Colonies of L. amhiguus were collected in May 1982 from the E. 
N. Huyck Preserve (Albany County, NY). These colonies were 
settled in artificial nest boxes and maintained according to standard 
methods (Herbers and Cunningham 1983); in addition, frozen fruit- 
flies were provided as a food source. 
For detailed observations, three colonies were chosen on the basis 
of queen and worker number to match earlier studies of L. longispi- 
nosus (Herbers 1982). All Leptothorax colonies studied were of 
approximately equal worker number, all had eggs and larvae, and 
all produced alates by summers’ end; only queen number varied 
significantly (Table 2). 
Behavioral observations were conducted June 9 — August 24, 
1982 through a Wild M5-A stereomicroscope as follows: a worker 
was chosen at random and all her actions were recorded over a 
30-minute period. In addition, activities of individuals around her in 
the field of view were recorded. Head widths of the randomly-chosen 
ants were measured at a standard depth of field, by use of an ocular 
micrometer. 
Data analysis followed methods outlined by Fagen and Goldman 
(1977) for behavior catalogs; Herbers and Cunningham (1983) for 
statistical evidence of polyethism and morphological bias; and Cole 
(1980) for producing dendrograms. 
Table 2. Colony sizes of Leptothorax used in this comparative study. Data on L 
tongispinosus were reported by Herbers (1982). 
Original 
# of 
Queens 
Leptothorax amhiguus 
La-A 3 
La-B 1 
La-C 0 
Leptothorax tong isp i n o sus 
Ll-A 1 
Ll-B 1 
Ll-C 5 
Ll-D 4 
Original 
n of 
Eggs 
Larvae 
Alates 
Workers 
Laid? 
Present? 
Reared? 
27 
yes 
yes 
yes 
28 
yes 
yes 
yes 
20 
yes 
yes 
yes 
30 
yes 
yes 
yes 
31 
yes 
yes 
yes 
28 
yes 
yes 
yes 
36 
yes 
yes 
yes 
