1985] 
Pamilo, Crozier, & Fraser — Rhytidoponera 
225 
We used model paints to mark ants distinctively according to the 
nest in which they were caught, and could thus trace the flow of ants 
during inter-nest movements and evaluate the degree of mixture of 
ants from different (original) nests. Table 4 shows that this mixture 
was very considerable, and also reflects the fact that most ants in the 
three nests had moved into nest 60 by the end of the second observa- 
tion period. 
Carrying was also observed during our November visit to the 
study site, although it did not appear to be as frequent as in Sep- 
tember. In November we observed ants being carried from nests 59 
and 57 to nest 60, and also observed ants moving between these 
nests without carrying or being carried. Transport of brood was also 
seen, once in September. Although, in September, the ants of nest 
61 were markedly hostile to ants from nests 57, 59 and 60, marked 
ants from all of these nests were found in nest 61 during November. 
Carrying took place at times of high activity of ants outside the 
nests (i.e., during foraging sessions). These times, during our obser- 
vation periods, were in the morning and late afternoon. At times, 
carrying became an activity rivaling foraging, with many ants 
emerging from nest 60 and heading towards the neighboring nests. 
These carriers mostly brought ants back from the other nests; sel- 
dom did they take ants to them. 
Marking of carriers and riders showed that these two categories 
Table 4. Mark-recapture observations on nests 57, 59 and 60. Ants were marked 
with paint dots according to whether they were found in nest 57 (O = orange), 59 (W 
= white), or 60 (G = green). At the end of the September observation period, as many 
ants as possible were captured from each nest, and the colors of the marked ants 
noted before all ants were returned to the nests they were last captured in. The decline 
in the number of marked ants in November is mostly due to loss of the marks rather 
than to mortality . The numbers in the table are of the ants recaptured; percentages of 
the total captured in each nest for each color are shown beneath each number. 
Sept. 20 Sept. 28 Nov. 14 
Nest 
O 
W 
G 
O 
W 
G 
O 
w 
G 
57 (O) 
39 
0 
1 
14 
2 
5 
1 
0 
0 
97.5 
0 
2.5 
65 
10 
25 
59 (W) 
0 
82 
5 
6 
29 
3 
0 
0 
0 
0 
94 
6 
16 
76 
8 
60(G) 
3 
11 
47 
20 
64 
41 
2 
13 
5 
4 
18 
78 
16 
51 
33 
10 
65 
25 
