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Social carrying behavior is one of the most remarkable social ac- tivities in ant societies. Not only eggs, larvae and pupae, but also adult workers, queens and males are frequently carried by worker ants to various target areas. Although carrying behavior has been observed in many ant species (see review in E. O. Wilson I97I), only a few analytical investigations have dealt with the biological significance of social carrying behavior in ants. Kneitz (1964) reports that in Formica polyctena special "storage workers" are passively moved between the summer nest and winter nest. Arnoldi (1932) observed that during the slave raids Rossomyrmex proformi- carum uses the carrying technique to recruit sister workers to the nest of the slave ants. In Camponotus herculeanus social carrying behavior serves as a "social timer" during the nuptial flight activi- ties: males that tend to take off too early or too late during the daily flight periods are carried back into the nest by their worker nestmates (H611dobler and Maschwitz I964).
Möglich et al. (Tue,) studied this question.