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Psyche 
[Vol. 89 
tion might have evolved in such a group of closely related species. 
The queens of slave-making, temporary, and inquiline parasites 
found new colonies by securing adoption in a host-species colony 
(Buschinger 1970; Wilson 1971). Although the colony-foundation 
behavior of such social parasites often involves an element of vio- 
lence which is probably lacking from the processes by which colo- 
nies of L. ambiguus, L. curvispinosus, and L. longispinosus adopt 
additional conspecific queens or additional foundresses join associa- 
tions (Wesson 1939; Alloway, personal observations), the tendencies 
to join conspecific colonies or foundress associations could form a 
basis from which more elaborate parasitic colony-foundation might 
evolve. 
Finally, the kind of polydomy seen in L. ambiguus, and L. longi- 
spinosus also embodies factors which may be both preadaptive for 
the evolution of socially parasitic behavior and significant in render- 
ing a species subject to social parasitism. Polydomy in these species 
can involve a more or less continuous exchange of workers, brood, 
and queens among a colony’s multiple nests. Such commerce 
requires a worker caste which is adept in carrying brood and adults 
in a fashion which might be preadaptive for slave-raiding (Busch- 
inger 1970). In this context it is noteworthy that Wilson (1975) and 
Alloway (1980) have shown that L. ambiguus, L. curvispinosus, and 
L. longispinosus sometimes behave like facultative slave-makers. 
Polydomy also requires workers in one nest to accept and tend a 
brood from another nest even though it may carry a somewhat 
unfamiliar “nest odor”. Yet, any tendency to care for unfamiliar 
brood might render a species vulnerable to social parasitism. The 
more ready host-species workers are to accept unfamiliar brood, the 
less exactly a parasite’s brood need mimic that of the host. 
Summary 
New colonies of L. longispinosus can be founded by a single 
young queen; and colonies of L. ambiguus and L. longispinosus can 
be founded by groups of two or more young queens. Mature colo- 
nies of these two species and of L. curvispinosus can become polyg- 
ynous or enhance the degree of their pre-existing polygyny by 
adopting young conspecific queens. Some colonies of L. ambiguus 
and L. longispinosus occupy more than one nest and exchange 
