170 
Psyche 
[Vol. 92 
in fig trees, which could account for the apparent high density of A. 
notabilis colonies in the area. 
The A. notabilis minors frequently drank from sugar or honey 
solutions (while largely ignoring baits of cooking oil). I was unable 
to find any evidence of recruitment to sugar baits (or any other 
foods) either in the field or in the laboratory. For example, during 
a 90 minute period several minors independently found and drank 
at a sugar bait placed 8 cm from the nest entrance in the field. 
Although ants that had fed usually returned directly to the nest, 
their return was not followed by an increased rate of forager exodus. 
The response of the ants to baits located far from the nest remains to 
be investigated. 
Acanthomyrmex ferox. A. ferox probably has a similar diet 
breadth to notabilis. In the field I provided the foragers with baits of 
sugar grains, olive oil, and seeds from a canary seed mix with 
sesame seeds added. Two ants drank from the oil baits and several 
carried off sugar grains and sesame seeds (but no other seeds). In 
captivity the minors consumed dead insects and drank sugar water; 
capture of small prey was not demonstrated. As in A. notabilis , no 
feeding was ever observed on seeds. However, in this case the ants 
did carry sesame seeds and fig seeds to their current “nest site” on 
the floor of the plastic box, and when the nest site shifted, the seeds 
were transferred along with the brood. Most likely this species is 
also partially granivorous. 
A. notabilis Behavioral Repertoire 
A total of 344 behavioral events were recorded during eight hours 
of observations on the captive A. notabilis ants over a 10 day 
period, during which time 3 majors and 17-18 minors were alive (in 
addition, about fifteen hours of observations were made before the 
ethogram data was compiled). The ethogram is presented in table 1. 
Workers frequently held immatures in position for long periods, 
loosely grasping them in their mandibles (“hold eggs, larvae, or 
pupae” behaviors in table 1). Pupae and large larvae were held while 
still resting on the ground, and smaller immatures, including clus- 
ters of eggs and microlarvae, were often held raised from the 
ground. A high percentage of workers holding immatures indicated 
a low level of colony excitement, although one to a few workers 
