Trail running wonders – Issue #64

Hello Explorer,

My fascination for ants had me staring at a wild colony of Lepisiota capensis running on the wall the other day. I saw them running from the top of the wall all the way down to the awning, and this wasn’t very interesting, until I went from seeing to observing.

Upon closer inspection I could see the dark line on the plastered wall where the ants were running up and down. This dark line was not their dirty feet that created it, but it was their pheromone trail that was laid down so thoroughly that it was visible!

Pheromones are a chemical trail that insects release or lay down for others to follow. In many cases it is used to attract mates where the female will release the pheromone into the air and the males will fly towards the source. In many other insects such as ants, bees, and wasps it is used to communicate with nest mates about where to go, what to do, where there is food, and to alert nest mates to threats.

The interesting part about the colony I observed, however, was to see what a difference the pheromone trail made in the speed that the ants were travelling. If they turned off at the pheromone trail, they ran up to 4 times faster than the ones that missed the trail.

This was a clear display of how a pheromone trail assisted ants in finding their way, and not only in showing them the right direction, but also giving them confidence. This confidence led to a great increase in the speed they ran.

This increase in speed was crucial in the sense that there was a storm approaching and moving the nest quickly was a literal matter of life and death for these ants. If you want to read more about ants and how to use them to predict incoming rains storms, you can read the newsletter: Creations Rain Indicators – Issue #63.

If you would like to send me a message with your answers, feel free to do so on Instagram @abugmanslife or via email to [email protected].

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