Discoveries

June 27, 2023

Building the Way

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Most people hunt for landmarks to find their way when lost but one desert ant species goes even further – it builds them in order to survive the scorching salt flats of Tunisia, according to New Scientist.

The Cataglyphis fortis are known to travel long distances to forage for food and have remarkable navigation skills.

Yet, scientists have wondered how the insects manage these arduous tasks in hot temperatures and in areas without any plants or hills.

In a new study, a research team sought to understand the purpose of strange mounds of different heights built by the ants.

They observed that the ants’ foraging was a very dangerous endeavor: Around 20 percent of them failed to return home following a more than one-mile journey.

This failure drastically increased between 250 and 400 percent when the team removed the ant-built mounds near some nests.

Still, the foragers’ nest mates would quickly begin rebuilding the missing structures in nearly all cases.

When researchers replaced the mounds with large artificial landmarks, the ants didn’t rebuild them and the foragers had an easier time coming home.

The study showed that the mounds served as a type of location marker for the laborious insects, but the authors are still puzzled about the intricacies of the navigation trick.

They hope to understand how the colony keeps track of when it needs new landmarks and how the C. fortis organize themselves to build them.

This story originally appeared in the June 27, 2023 newsletter, Pugachevshchina.