The emission of intermediate‐mass fragments (IMFs) from highly excited nuclei is examined as a function of projectile energy. Near threshold the principal IMF sources are (1) the statistical decay of equilibrated composite systems formed in central collisions and (2) peripheral processes which form projectile‐like ejectiles. In the vicinity of the Fermi energy, nonequilibrium IMF emission, presumably from intermediate impact‐parameter collisions, becomes a third important mechanism. At total bombarding energies in excess of 1 GeV, multifragment emission is also observed. In this report we investigate the evolution of these mechanisms as a function of beam energy in both inclusive and exclusive studies of14N‐induced reactions below E/A=100 MeV and3He‐induced reactions up to E/A=1.2 GeV.