Updated Apr 2022
Did you read my previous post about the army ants? When army ants are on the march, a small group will sometimes get separated from the colony and become lost. For example, this might happen if they see some prey and go in pursuit, or perhaps they go around something like a boulder or other obstacle.
Poor Lost Army Ants!
The poor things get lost and can’t find their way home. They wander around in the jungle and don’t know what to do. Don’t you feel sorry for them?
What Will They Do?
So what do lost army ants do about their situation? This army does not have generals or leaders like other armies. They follow the swarm of other ants. The front of the colony is quite broad, and no ants are in charge.
Their instinct is to follow the ant in front of them. So when they get lost, that is what they do. Follow the ants in front of them and hope they know where they are going. So those ants are following the ones in front of them, who are following the ones in front of them and so on and on.
How does the Spiral get Started?
The lost ants start to wander in search of their colony. If they see some other lost ants, they will change course and head towards them. The second group of ants does the same thing and changes course to head toward the first group. So the lead ants of each group head toward the other group, which they then join, and it becomes one group going in a circle. Any other stray ants that happen by will join in. This is difficult to explain, but here is an animation of it. Watch carefully as the lead ants in the two groups head toward the tail-end of the other group to start a spiral. Each group follows the other without realizing that they are going in circles. Other ants join in later, and the circle gets bigger and bigger.
Here is actual footage of lost army ants running in a circle that I made at the Mayan ruins of Coba in southern Mexico.
What will happen to them?
As they get desperate to find their colony they run faster and faster. They don’t stop for rest. They will run like this until they die of exhaustion.
Isn’t that sad?
The army ant colony is made up of millions of ants so in the big picture of things if a few hundred ants get lost and die it is no big deal for the colony. Apparently, it happens quite often.
There is no special place to find army ants as they are nomadic. Just walk around in the parks anywhere in the forests of southern Mexico or Central America and you will eventually come across some of them. The Mayan ruins are a good place to look for them.
Las hormigas son muy inteligentes, fue muy triste ver como daban vueltas hasta morir de agotamiento, lastima que cuando las vi correr en ese circulo no sabia la razon, pero prometo que si tengo la suerte de ver otra vez ese circulo, ayudare a que no mueran de esa manera.