Ants also know how to build bridges

Some ants in tropical forests in Latin America have ' engineering units ' that work very effectively. To facilitate the worker ants transporting food to the nest, ants Eciton burchellii used their bodies to bridge in the ' potholes ' containing water that hindered the movement of the whole herd.

Ant Eciton burchellii is famous for long-distance movements in forests in South and Central America. There are flocks of up to 200,000 worker ants making their way on the highway from their nest to the food source. Some of them are on water holes to let other animals pass through.

British researchers Scott Powell and Nigel Franks of Bristol University used planks with holes in different diameters to test ant behavior. They noted that the size of the bridging ant is equivalent to the size of the hole. In holes with larger diameters, more cubes merge to form a bridge. These ants only return to the nest when the whole herd has passed.

The researchers claim that the technique has allowed ants to increase the amount of food stored transported each day to the nest to feed new generations of ants.

The ants Eciton burchellii used their bodies to bridge them
' potholes ' contain water that hinders the movement of the whole herd (Photo: BBC)

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