collectiveforaging
Collective foraging refers to the coordinated search for and acquisition of food resources by a group of individuals, producing emergent patterns that can be more efficient than solitary hunting or gathering. It is observed across diverse taxa, from social insects and fish to birds and mammals, and is also studied in artificial systems such as multi-agent robotics and computer simulations. The term encompasses recruitment-driven patch exploitation as well as distributed foraging where individuals act on social information or simple local rules.
Key mechanisms include recruitment signals (such as dances, calls, or pheromone trails), stigmergy in which an
Benefits of collective foraging include more rapid discovery of sparse resources, increased exploitation of rich patches,
In nature, collective foraging is well documented in honeybees, ants, and other social insects; in vertebrates