Ants fitted with radio backpacks

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Published on June 25, 2020 8:38:29 AM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDLUSI-WWrc

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How do house-hunting ants choose the best home? - Ants are fitted with radio transmitters for scientific study.

Direct comparison of alternatives isn’t always the best way to make a decision – at least if you’re an ant. House-hunting rock ants collectively manage to choose the best nest site without needing to study all their options, according to new research from the University of Bristol.

Dr. Elva Robinson and colleagues in the Bristol University’s School of Biological Sciences fitted radio-frequency identification tags to the backs of the rock ants (Temnothorax albipennis) which measure up to 3mm in length.

Two thousand of the tiny transponders would fit onto a postage stamp. The scientists then watched the way the ants chose between two nest sites to make their home.

The ant colonies showed sophisticated nest-site choice, selecting the superior site even though it was nine times further away than the alternative. The best nest was chosen, despite the fact that very few individual ants made direct comparisons between the nest sites.

In the Bristol tests, very few ants appeared to make direct comparisons between the two nests by making multiple visits to each before choosing one or the other.

However, approximately half (forty-one percent) of the ants that first visited the near nest later switched to the far nest, whereas only a tiny minority (three percent) of the ants that first visited the far nest switched to the near nest. This ultimately resulted in the entire colony ending up in the better nest. Her study showed that ants are better at house-hunting than humans.