Abstract
The foraging strategy of the granivore species Messor barbarus implies the development of trails for the gathering of food. In a studied population in this species, the colonies react with strong recruitment and foraging activity to unusual objects — organic or not — in their environment. Several of the sources of attraction were constituted by proteinic food: Rabbit corpses, insects and excrements. This behaviour is performed even facing very difficult environmental conditions and can lead to fights between neighboring colonies. If these unusual objects remain on the terrain for a long time, physically marked trunk-trails are developed from chemical trails. No other species in the study area manifest this kind of behaviour.
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