How do Ants Move in a Line?

How do Ants Move in a Line?

We have seen ants moving in a line in a disciplined manner! But, do you know, why and how they move like that? Here is the answer for this question:

Ants secrete chemicals called pheromones to communicate among themselves. Different kind of pheromones convey different types of information. They share information like the whereabouts of their food, their predators, shelter, etc through various types of pheromones.

With the help of their antennae, the ants interpret the information from the pheromones secreted by other ants.

For instance, when an ant goes in search of the food, it emits pheromones in its path. The other ant that follows the first one will sense the scent of the chemical, decode the information and move in the same path. The second ant will also secrete the chemical in the same path to facilitate the movement of other ants in the same path. Otherwise, the chemical will evaporate.

Thus, every ant in the path emits the chemical to convey the information, which will make the path thicker with pheromones. The thickness of the path will let the succeeding ants know that the path has heavy traffic and the destination is a good source of food.

Once the first ant finds the food, it will return in the same path and will secrete the pheromones again. This is to convey its successors that the food is available at the destination.