78 
Psyche 
[Vol. 89 
these ants appear to be specialized on large arthropods, they may 
have passed through a phase of subsociality similar to that of the 
bethylid wasp Scleroderma. Although the evolution of ants from 
Scleroderma- like ancestors has been ruled out on morphological 
grounds, the possibility remains that the Amblyoponini represent an 
independent venture into eusociality. The present study, which sug- 
gests that A. pallipes is not dependent upon large arthropod prey, 
and the studies of Haskins (1928) and Haskins and Haskins (1951) 
on colony foundation, do not support or refute this theory. Addi- 
tional studies must be carried out on the behavior of newly insemi- 
nated females, their prey preferences during colony foundation and 
their reproductive physiology to test this hypothesis. 
Acknowledgements 
This research was carried out while the author was a doctoral 
candidate at Harvard University, and was supported by the Ander- 
son and Richmond Funds, NSF Grant BNS 80-02613 (B. Holl- 
dobler, sponsor), and NSF predoctoral grant DEB 78-16201. Drs. 
Gary Alpert, Bert Holldobler, and Edward Wilson provided useful 
comments on the manuscript. I would especially like to thank Dr. 
Caryl Haskins for sharing with me his great wealth of knowledge of 
primitive ants. Finally, I thank Michelle and Eric Scott, who were 
indispensable in the field. 
Summary 
1. The behavior of ecology of the primitive ponerine ant Amblyo- 
pone pallipes was studied in the laboratory and the field. Thirty- 
three colonies were collected over a two-year period, 94% of which 
were excavated from one locality where 68% of the colonies were 
strongly clumped in their spatial distribution. Workers and queens 
could be transferred between these nests without hostility. 
2. The inability of workers to recognize members of other colo- 
nies within a population, the colony life cycle, limited dispersal, the 
presence of multiple queens in nests, and circumstantial evidence on 
the adoption of newly inseminated females by their parent nest 
suggest that A. pallipes is secondarily polygynous and unicolonial. 
Although dispersal flights do occur, colony reproduction seems to 
be accomplished through budding. 
