Tandem running

Camponotus consobrinus workers recruit additional nestmates to newly discovered food sources. The lead worker (on the left) has returned to the nest and is leading the remaining workers back to the food source.

Tandem running is a method of recruitment used by some species of ants, such as Temnothorax albipennis, to lead nestmates to food and to facilitate quorum sensing. It is dissimilar to other recruitment strategies used by social insects such as pheromone trails, in that ants using tandem running can recruit only one worker at a time. During a tandem run, the worker leads the recruit, which maintains contact with the leader using her antennae.[1]

References

  1. ↑ Franks NR, Richardson T (2006). "Teaching in tandem-running ants". Nature 439 (7073): 153. doi:10.1038/439153a. PMID 16407943.

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