Uri, It could be that the shells were dug up by the ants, but I doubt it.
The ants probably brought the snails to the nest for food.

In the Philippines (Luzon) I kept encountering piles of large snail shells,
i.e. Ryssota, Helicostyla, all dead, some with rotten flesh in them....each
pile of shells consisted of 5 - 20 shells, all in neat little piles......I
finally witnessed a group of large ants carrying a dying Ryssota to one of
the piles......they threw it on top, and went about their business of
feeding on it....Unfortunately, I was without a camera that day.

Kurt

At 08:26 AM 7/9/01 +0200, you wrote:
>Dear Land-Sheller’s
>
>While I was looking after land shells, I “discovered” that there are
>Plenty of empty shells in the grit of seeds around Ants nest.
>Most of them are of the kind of Euchondrus septemdentatus, which looks very
>much like a wheat grain by itself.
>Now my question is – why?
>Were they collected by the ants as ‘seeds’ and than disappointedly removed?
>Or were they collected as nutrition for the ants?
>Or maybe dug out by the ants while digging their nest?
>Are you familiar with these phenomena?
>Please shed some light ;-)
>Regards - uri
>
Mr. Kurt Auffenberg
Senior Biological Scientist
Exhibits & Public Programs
University of Florida
Hull Road & SW 34th Street
Powell Hall, P.O. Box 112710
Gainesville, Florida 32611-2710

Telephone: 352-846-2000, ext. 253
Fax:  352-846-0253