Saturday 22 January 2011

Army Ants Go Marching On, Until...


Army ants trek in formation for miles and miles, foraging for food and making temporary nests. However, sometimes they can collectively become confused and something quite bizarre happens. The result is something called an ant mill.

An ant mill is a phenomenon where a group of army ants separated from the main foraging party lose the pheromone track and begin to follow one another, forming a continuously rotating circle. The ants will eventually die of exhaustion.

(thanks Robert-John)

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