Production of winged and wingless males in the ant Cardiocondyla minutior

*[Six large stock colonies from Tobago & 4 large stock coloniesfrom Bahia, Brazil were used as sources to set up experimental subcolonies. Wingless (= ergatoid) males of the tramp ant Cardiocondyla minutior attack & kill their young ergatoid rivals, thus attempting to monopolize mating with female sexuals reared in the colony. Because of the different strength of local mate competition in colonies with one or several reproductive queens, we expected the production of new ergatoid males to vary with queen number. Sex ratios were mostly female-biased, but neither the percentage of ergatoid males nor of female sexuals among the first 20 sexuals produced varied considerably with queen number. Experimental colony fragmentation led to the production of winged males, while in unfragmented control colonies only ergatoid males eclosed.]