rodent but an elephant shrew, only licked the tops of the flower heads, but is thought to thus likely pollinate the florets anyway. Aethomys was the most quick to forage. Mus minutoides, Crocidura spp., Graphiurus ocularis and Dendromus melanotis have also been captured on rare occasion around rodent-pollinated proteas. Rodent pollinators' faeces contain a large amount of protea pollen, also as seen from their, probably due to being ingested during the grooming of their snouts. Rodent pollinators may also sometimes nibble on the bracts and styles of flower heads, destroying a percentage of the structure on a number of inflorescences, the diurnal mouse Rhabdomys pumilio appears to be most likely responsible for this. As imaged using fluorescent powders on the flower heads, the movement of pollinating rodents through the landscape creates small trails or runways, which often go from protea to protea. The flower heads tend to accumulate the faeces of their visiting rodents. It is possible that this species is dependent on the two other species of rodent-pollinated proteas with which it shares its habitat and sometimes even grows alongside (P. scolopendriifolia and P. montana), as its population on its own may be too restricted to support the nectar-feeding rodents, although research by Wiens et al. found that the amount of nectar produced by a particular population is only sufficient to sustain the rodents for several days a year. The nectar is extremely sweet, which attracts the rodents, but it also low in protein and not very nutritious, and functions more like 'junk-food' or candy. Rodents in captivity which were fed a diet of only nectar died after five days. Individual pollinators have small home ranges of only 25 to 60 m², but the distribution of pollinating species does not match that of the proteas. Specific pollinating species are not unique to this plant species, and are not even unique to this plant group, region or habitat, occurring across large parts of Africa. There is evidence that the specific rodent pollinator species at a specific group of plants may be different from a neighbouring group, and the abundance of certain particular species at a site may change drastically from year on year, likely because the rodent composition is dependent on other factors besides the proteas. Rodents captured in areas where there are no rodent-pollinated proteas, even species such as gerbils (Gerbilliscus afra) which are not known as nectar-feeders, are