Question for @futurebird following a conversation today: can ants get lost?
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@econads
Yes! Ants can and do get lost. Their trail back to the nest might get washed out by rain or wind, or they might wander too far and make a wrong turn. Ants that know where they are going walk in a different pattern than those that are lost, or those that are searching for food. A lost ant will start walking the search pattern looking for home.
They can often get "unlost"
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@futurebird I thought they left pheromone trails, or not all the time? Could they just turn around and retrace their steps if they went wrong (minus the washing away)?
Followup question: Can multiple ants get lost in a group?
Thank you for indulging our curiosity!
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@econads
The book "Desert Navigator" is all about these scientists who keep playing tricks on these poor ants as they discover exactly how the ants know where they are going.
OK "play tricks" is a bit harsh. They are interesting experiments. Like making it seem like the sun is in a different position in the sky to see if that confuses the ants, or putting up large landmarks near the nest... then moving them when the ants are off foraging...
I guess I just felt a little bad for the ants.
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@futurebird @econads One experiment attached little stilts to their legs (or the.. opposite..) and found that this caused them to walk further than normal and thus get lost.
https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn9436-ants-use-pedometers-to-find-home/
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