Ant foraging behaviour is a paradigmatic example of sophisticated social coordination in the animal kingdom. Central to their success is the use of chemical signals, particularly trail pheromones, ...

For the past three decades Deborah Gordon has devoted herself to studying ant colonies in the Arizona desert. Although her chosen subject – the red harvester ant – isn’t much to look at, when they ...

The biologist Deborah Gordon has uncovered how ant colonies search efficiently without central organization, an insight that might improve computer networks. Ants are capable of remarkable feats of ...