2006-06-22 07:38:07 · 12 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Other - Science
No they do not follow the same path. They follow a pheromone trail path set by a forager ant. The ensuing ants will reinforce that path until the food finishes. Yes they know where they are going, as they will also follow the strongest and shortest pheromone trail path.
Also, through the observation of the sudden infestation of my house with literally hundreds of ants (probably its winter). They find sugar traces in my toilet sink (I was doing some soda and mentos experiment there) :P, and a box of opened cereal at the top of my fridge.
Destroying a path of ants seem to work poorly, as they still continue... they seem to operate much more actively in the day and communicate with other ants with increasing frequency when they are in the trail. Ant poison (chemical but toxic food for ants, which they will feed the queens with) seems to work a few years back and my current batch of ants seem to be taking the bait...
2006-06-22 15:19:22 · answer #1 · answered by hespy 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They leave a pheronomic trail -- tiny scent glands on their feet that mark where they have gone, something like puppies do when they leave their mark on a tree. It's amazing to watch ants, because they wander all over the place and don't seem to have any sense of direction, but they are able to follow their own foot tracks and other ants can also follow them.
2006-06-22 07:43:55 · answer #2 · answered by old lady 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ants usually lose, or never develop, their wings. Therefore, unlike their wasp ancestors, most ants travel by walking. Some tend to develop literal paths, the tiny equivalent of deer paths, as well as creating unseen paths using chemical hints left for each other to smell.
The more cooperative species of ants sometimes form chains to bridge gaps, underground, over water, or through spaces in arboreal paths.
2006-06-22 07:42:22 · answer #3 · answered by williegod 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They leave an invisible trail that they secrete out their thorax; it helps them find their way back, and helps other ants get to the food they've found.
I remember reading a story when I was super young about an ant (the protagonist of the tale) who had to cut off his "scent trail" cuz a predatory spider was trailing him, then the ant was scared he wouldn't find his way home.
2006-06-22 07:42:43 · answer #4 · answered by ishotvoltron 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Pheromones. Ants follow a leader ant to and from the place they need to go with smell. Leader ant makes pheromone trail and others follow.
2006-06-22 07:41:41 · answer #5 · answered by Man_With_No_Name 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ants can mark trails with scent, and other ants are able to follow that trail for hours afterwards.
2006-06-22 07:43:32 · answer #6 · answered by BoredBookworm 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's a scent trail that one ant leaves after finding food.
If you ever find a trail, try scratching the ground (with your shoe).
You'll erase the trail, and the ants will scurry around lost.
2006-06-22 08:15:03 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
i'm no longer stable at waiting. i'm many times retaining busy by some potential. yet interior the back of all of it i'm purely waiting to speak to her back... And previous that i'm counting time in direction of the 1st highway holiday I actual have taken in some years...
2016-12-13 18:06:42 · answer #8 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
ants leave a scent trail
2006-06-22 07:51:56 · answer #9 · answered by thee_stu_man 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Smell!
Watch what happens when you drag a fingertip across a gap in an antline
2006-06-22 08:50:15 · answer #10 · answered by ardent_psychonaut 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋