Studies on behavioural aspects of ants: communication, food collection and nest construction

Ants are small, insignificant and quite powerful intelligent eusocial insects. The social organization is very remarkable one in ants, so that they cannot be distinguished from one another, it is mysterious for us that ants are able to recognize their companies, of course they don’t have ears, some of them are blind, but they have a great sense of smell. Ants interact with one another through chemicals, called ‘pheromones’. These chemicals may vary from one species to another species. When they find a food, leave a pheromone trail, which is sensed by other ants, and that in turn leads to the food source. They have the capacity to find the shortest route from food source to colony so that they can collect maximum food. Ants are one of the few groups of animals, which modify their immediate environment to suit their needs. They often build elaborate nests in a range of situations, sometimes, expending huge amount of energy in their construction. Ant nests vary from small, simple chambers under rocks, logs, twigs, branches using leaves or in trunks of tress on the ground to extensive excavations extending a meter or more into the soil. Ants perform tasks ranging from nest building, finding food and shortest route to food source with excellent communication skills and even help in waste management.