Whereas temporary social parasites typically kill the host queens, queens of permanent inquilines are usually tolerant of the host queens. Thus, when one opens a mound and sees red and black ants both in frantic distress, then one may have encountered slave-makers with slaves (Figure 1). breviceps are red ants that enslave other formicine ants which are black ants. For instance, many of the formicine slave-makers like P. These nests typically have two or more species of ants in the colony, and can often be identified easily. The social parasitism that I address here is restricted to the ants that form mixed species nests and depend on labor provided by the host species workers. These parasites are found throughout the social Hymenoptera (i.e., bees, wasps and ants), and have been most intensely studied in ants. breviceps are social insects that parasitize colonies of other social insects. And if the slave-maker was Polyergus breviceps, a slave-maker on steroids, then I knew I was in for a spectacle. All encounters were a thrill, but for me, the biggest thrill was encountering a raiding party of slave-making or dulotic ants. Inside this wonderful Park, I might chance upon herds of elk or bison, a lone moose or a drumming ruffed grouse. Among my fondest memories are the summers that I spent studying the ants of Elk Island National Park in western Canada.
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