Memory encoded in the interactions of ants.

Abstract

Dreyer et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 122, e2414274121, (2025) challenged ant and human groups to carry an oddly shaped load through a series of narrow rooms, and found that both succeed remarkably well, but used very different tactics. While the fact that humans dumb themselves down in some groups is interesting, the discovery of a collective memory built into the interaction patterns of the ants is extremely exciting.