Ant-managers: tiny toilers follow any leader to haul heavy loads, study finds
Groups of ants working together to carry objects change their tactics whenever a new individual joins in with a better idea, scientists find
A few ants carry a much larger insect for food.
Ants have an astonishing ability to mix collective muscle with individual initiative for heavy lifting, a study has revealed.
In experiments, researchers showed how a dozen or more ants working in unison to haul something like a large insect could adjust their course based on new intelligence provided by a single ant joining the effort.
Realising somehow that the group is off-course or headed for trouble, the “scout” subtly signalled a needed change in direction by tugging at a different angle.
Rather than resisting the others fell into line.
“The individual ant has the idea of how to pass an obstacle but lacks the muscle power to move the load,” explained Ofer Feinerman, the study’s main architect and a researcher at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel.
“The group is there to amplify the leader’s strength so that she can actually implement her idea.”