The social organisation of Halictus ligatus (Hymenoptera; Halictidae) in southern Ontario

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Abstract
The social organization of Halictus ligatus was studied at Victoria, southern Ontario. At this locality, the one worker brood has a protracted period of emergence; this results in small colony populations throughout the summer activity phase. Workers average 12.7% smaller than their queens, 60% of them have some ovarian development, and 42% of them mate. More males are produced towards the very end of the first brood than earlier in the spring provisioning phase. These late first brood males probably survive to mate with reproductive brood females. In orphaned nests, one worker dominates the others to become a replacement queen. Most replacement queens are mated and orphaned colonies produce reproductives of both sexes. Data from this population are compared with those of other studies of this, and other, halictine species.