Scents of direction: Ants use odour and geometry to find their way

0 Comments | AFP, December, 2004

PARIS (AFP) — Ants reportedly use angled signposts, using tiny scent markers, to find their way home or follow the path into the wilderness.

In a study published in Nature, the British science weekly, University of Sheffield scientists looked at the foraging trails laid by Pharoah's ants (Monomorium pharaonis).

Scout ants would set the trail from the nest using pheromone scents as indicators for those coming behind them.

Wherever the trail forked to let the ants explore potential sources of food, one of the angles between the forks was always around 60 degrees, the researchers found.

This means that an ant which has gone off the trail can find its way by detecting this narrow angle.

By having its back to the angle, the ant knows it can find...