How do ants get back home?

Ants are fascinating species. They are disciplined, social and amazingly strong. You saw that in Antman movie, didn't you?

An ant colony starts out looking for food by sending scouts ants or the search party. These ants disperse in random directions searching for food. But when they find the food how do they return home?  Visuals helps sometimes but ants are very small creatures and have a smaller field of view than humans.


The better method they approach is by using a trail of pheromone which is chemical scent. When the scouts leave home searching for food they leave a trail of pheromone along the way.  When they find the food, they follow this scented marks back home. If any other scout ant which is in pursuit of  food comes across any pheromone trail it joins the trail and follows the path. If the path reaches the nest then it follows the path in the opposite direction leaving the pheromone on the way and thus making the trail stronger.

Next time when you see a scout ant on the floor, just wipe the floor or mark it with some other stronger scent like perfume and have fun watching the ant not knowing how to get back home.

Kidding, don't do that. Don't be a sadist.