Joshua R. King, James C. Trager
Journal of Insect Science 7 (42), 1-14, (1 July 2007) https://doi.org/10.1673/031.007.4201
KEYWORDS: body size, colony size, conservation, sociometry, taxonomy, Formica archboldi, Formica dolosa
Slave making ants of the Polyergus lucidus Mayr (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) complex enslave 3 different Formica species, Formica archboldi, F. dolosa, and F. pallidefalva, in northern Florida. This is the first record of presumed P. lucidus subspecies co-occurring with and enslaving multiple Formica hosts in the southern end of their range. The behavior, colony sizes, body sizes, nest architecture, and other natural history observations of Polyergus colonies and their Formica hosts are reported. The taxonomic and conservation implications of these observations are discussed.