160 
Psyche 
[Vol. 88 
colony arousal. In all of our laboratory and field studies, we always 
placed food near raiding fronts, within a few meters of the bivouac. 
In most cases, the army ants established few or even no additional 
raid columns beyond the artificial feeding site. Thus, our feeding 
procedure reduces the ability of the ants to locate a suitable nesting 
site, which is a prerequisite for a successful emigration (Mirenda et 
al., in press). The case for a relationship between food supply and 
colony arousal is made considerably stronger by considering, in 
addition to emigration frequency, the temporal aspects of the ants’ 
raiding behavior. Colony no. 2 conducted no raids on 4 nomadic 
nights. By comparison, the complete absence of raiding (on 
stormless nights) for a nomadic colony of N. nigrescens has never 
been reported, although it is a common occurrence for statary 
colonies. Finally, when we include the data on raid onset and 
duration for colony no. 2, we conclude that overfeeding can 
effectively shift the level of overall colony activity from a nomadic 
to a statary condition. 
Acknowledgments 
The base of operations for this study was the Southwestern 
Research Station of The American Museum of Natural History. 
This research was supported by NSF Grant BNS-8004565, and by 
PSC-CUNY Grant 13492. 
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