How do ants foraging?
Although pheromone trails are not the only method ants use to communicate during foraging, it will be the focus of this study. Pheromones are chemical secreted form glands on the ventral surface of the ant’s abdomen. Successful foragers, lay pheromone trails by touching the ground with their abdomen whilst returning to the nest. Thus, pheromone trails signal the location of resources to nestmates. As one successful forager lays a pheromone trail, many ants are recruited to that resource. Consequently, pheromone trails result in the mass recruitment of foragers to a resource. Mass recruitment is the recruitment of many individuals to an area where work is required. This leads to rapid exploitation of resources. But, to ensure that mass recruitment is effective and efficient regulatory mechanisms are required to prevent recruitment to low quality, depleted, or overcrowded resources. How do ants regulate mass recruitment? • Quantitative control – the quantity of the pheromone on a trail i
