Every day, tiny red Spanish Desert ants make several trips from their nest in the hunt for food. Now, its fairly common knowledge that an ant can carry 10-50 times their body weight, but have you ever wondered how they carry heavier things? It turns out they have to drag it, walking backwards, all the way back to their nest.
When walking forward, Spanish desert ants use a strategy called “path integration:” which essentially involves them remembering every twist, turn, and step they took when they left the nest.
With the help of path integration, and using landmarks the way that humans do, they are able to navigate their way home.
The ants’ eyes have a wide angle of view—they have nearly 360° vision, whereas humans can only see about one-third of their surroundings without turning their heads.
Researchers suggest that ants are likely taking in information from beside and behind them as they walk away from the nest, then using it to guide them back as they are dragging food.
