Research Article

Evidence for the Absence of Worker Behavioral Subcastes in the Sociobiologically Primitive Australian Ant Nothomyrmecia macrops Clark (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Myrmeciinae)

Table 1

The numbers of previously unmarked foraging workers departing 3 Nothomyrmecia macrops nests on 3 consecutive experimental nights, with the total numbers present in each nest as determined by a later excavation. Percentages are those of the full tallies for day 6.

ColonyWhiteYellowGreen

Night 119 (41.3%)26 (50.0%)18 (46.1%)
Night 217 (37.9%)18 (34.6%)11 (28.9%)
Night 38 (17.3%)7 (13.4%)10 (25.2%)

Totals44 (95.6%)51 (98.0%)38 (97.4%)

Excavated (day 6)46 ( )
(100%)
52 ( )
(100%)
39 ( )
(100%)