Why do ants walk in lines?
The Invisible Highway
Why do ants walk in lines?
You've seen them marching across the sidewalk or up the side of a building — a perfect line of ants, one after another, like they're following an invisible road. No leader shouting directions, no map in their tiny hands. Just a line. How do they all know where to go?
The secret is invisible ink. When an ant finds food — say, a cookie crumb — she doesn't just gobble it up and wander home. She picks it up and walks back to the nest, dragging her belly along the ground the whole way. And as she walks, she's leaving a trail of chemical scent behind her, like a perfume breadcrumb trail.
