THE BREEDING OF HEUGLIN'S MASKED WEAVER AND ITS NESTING ASSOCIATION WITH THE RED WEAVER ANT

Abstract

Summary Grimes, L. G. 1973. The breeding of Heuglin's Masked Weaver and its nesting association with the Red Weaver Ant. Ostrich 44: 170–175. The breeding season of Heuglin “s Masked Weaver Ploceus heuglini at Legon began in the latter half of the major dry season in January and February; continued through the main wet season and ceased in late August and for the rest of the year. The Accra colony had a similar breeding activity but in addition was active for a short period in November which had ended by mid-December. Although the majority of males formed colonies in which the number of males ranged from two to twenty, solitary breeding occurred equally frequently. Most males within the Legon colony, and possibly this is true for all colonies, were polygynous while most solitary males were monogamous. More nests were built by each male than the number of females involved in the polygyny. A close nesting association with the Red Weaver Ant Oecophylla longinoda existed and the data suggested that the weaver...