The collecting ants travel distances of up to 200 meters from their nest, and usually find their way back thanks to traces of smell. 👃
Some ants go out to look for food at night. The ants that leave during the day in hot and arid regions are in danger of dying due to desiccation, so that the ability to find the return path faster reduces this risk. The diurnal ants of desert areas Cataglyphis fortis use visual references in combination with other indications to orient themselves. In the absence of visual references, the nearby species Cataglyphis bicolor, which inhabits the Sahara desert, is oriented remembering the direction and distance it has traveled, as if they had an internal pedometer that counted how many steps had been made in each direction and then processed this information to find the shortest possible route back to the nest.
Some species of ants are able to use the earth's magnetic field. 🌳➡
Weaving ants show beautiful colors, which can be used to characterize each individual. For example, the queens are green while the males are black. Female workers, such as the one shown here, can measure up to one centimeter.
The compound eyes of the ants have specialized cells that detect the polarized light of the Sun, which they use to determine the direction. These polarization detectors are sensitive to the ultraviolet region of the light spectrum.