Abstract
Co-founding Veromessor pergandei queens tended brood equally throughout colony foundation. With the appearance of foragers, however, queens began to fight, resulting in an increase in queen death rate. Worker aggression towards queens occurred only after queen fighting began and was directed only to queens damaged during fights. Starting V. pergandei colonies raided brood from nearby nests; workers exhibited nest fidelity during such raids. Colonies started by multiple queens opened 9 days earlier than those started by single queens and were more successful at brood raiding. Queens and workers of defeated, brood-raided colonies abandoned their nests and joined/invaded victor nests. Brood raiding in this and similar species may be a consequence of territoriality and the clumped distribution of starting nests. Colony foundation by multiple queens, pleometrosis, may be an evolutionary response to brood raiding.
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