Trophallaxis

Trophallaxis in biology refers the sharing of food by members of a community. 

It is most highly developed in social insects such as ants, termites, wasps and bees. The word was introduced by the entomologist William Morton Wheeler in 1918.Wheeler W.M. 1918. A study of some ant larvae with a consideration of the origin and meaning of social habits among insects. Proc. Am. Phil. Soc., 57, 293-343. The behaviour has been used to explain theories of how social behaviour developed in insects.Roubaud E. 1916. Recherches biologiques sur les guepes solitaires et sociales d'Afrique. La genese de la vie sociale et l'evolution de l'instinct maternel chez les vespides. Ann Sci Nat 1:1-160 The French psychologist and entomologist August Forel also believed that food sharing was key to ant society. He used an illustration of it as the frontispiece for his book The social world of the ants compared with that of man.

Trophallaxis serves as a means of communication, at least in bees and ants. In some species of ants, it may play a role in spreading the colony odour that identifies members.Dahbi A. Hefetz A. Cerda X. and Lenoir A. 1999. Trophallaxis mediates uniformity of colony odor in Cataglyphis iberica ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae)
Journal of Insect Behavior. 12(4):559-567 abstract 

 References 

Category:Animals by eating behavior