Guerilla vs. Phalanx Strategies of Resource Capture: Growth and Structural Plasticity in the Trunk Trail System of the Harvester Ant Messor barbarus

In this paper we investigate some structural characteristics of the trunk trails and their organization within the colonies of the harvester ant Messor barbarus. We have analysed the growth and the adaptability of these trails in relation to the availability of resources, trying to emphasize the analogies between these dendritic systems and other ramified structures found in nature. A large population of colonies of this species was studied over a 3-year sequence in a Mediterranean pasture in central Spain