1982] 
Traniello — Amblyopone pallipes 
11 
sonal communication). But it is difficult to determine whether this is 
an abnormality which occurs only in the laboratory or represents an 
inability of A. pallipes queens to found a colony alone. Newly 
inseminated queens of A. australis found colonies in the partially 
claustral mode (Haskins and Haskins, 1951). However, A. australis 
is monogynous. 
Within a habitat, A. pallipes escapes competition with the more 
advanced groups of ants by additional specializations on micro- 
habitat and diet. This is in contrast to other unicolonial species 
which are broad generalists. 
Behaviorally, A. pallipes exhibits both primitive and advanced 
social traits, and many of the primitive characters are more conserva- 
tive than those of Myrmecia. Age polyethism is lacking, and commu- 
nication between individuals is primarily mechanical, although a 
rudimentary short-range recruitment system that is mediated by 
pheremones exists. Among the primitive trophic characteristics is 
the use of the sting to paralyze prey, which are subsequently fed 
directly to the larvae without prior dismemberment. Employing the 
sting to paralyze prey appears to be widespread in the Ponerinae, 
and recently Maschwitz et al. (1979) have demonstrated that the 
venom of the oriental ponerine species Harpegnathus saltatus and 
Leptogenys chinensis indeed has paralytic, and not toxic, effects. 
Prey paralyzation also occurs in Daceton armigerum and Paltothy- 
reus tarsatus (Wilson, 1962; Holldobler, pers. comm.). This is con- 
trasted to myrmicine species which use the sting as a defensive 
weapon. The importance of paralyzing but not killing arthropod 
prey in Amblyopone pallipes is obviously related to the direct provi- 
sioning of larvae; prey must be kept from decomposing until they 
are consumed. Also, immobilization is necessary for successful 
retrieval, and energetically it is more efficient for solitary foragers to 
carry paralyzed prey. The absence of regurgitation which is charac- 
teristic of the Ponerinae, also is a primitive trait. Although one of 
the more distinctive features of A. pallipes and other Amblyoponini, 
prey specialization, appears to be a conservative formicid trait, it is 
also possible that specialization was a response to competition. 
Finally, based on the theories of Malyshev (1968), Wilson (1971) 
has speculated that the Amblyoponini may have approached euso- 
ciality in a way very different from the partially claustral colony 
founding route assumed by Haskins and Haskins (1951). Because 
