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Teaching in tandem-running ants

Nature volume 439, page 153 (2006)Cite this article

Tapping into the dialogue between leader and follower reveals an unexpected social skill.

Abstract

The ant Temnothorax albipennis uses a technique known as tandem running to lead another ant from the nest to food —with signals between the two ants controlling both the speed and course of the run. Here we analyse the results of this communication and show that tandem running is an example of teaching, to our knowledge the first in a non-human animal1,2,3, that involves bidirectional feedback between teacher and pupil. This behaviour indicates that it could be the value of information, rather than the constraint of brain size, that has influenced the evolution of teaching.

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Figure 1: Tandem running in the ant Temnothorax albipennis.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 IUG, UK

    Nigel R. Franks & Tom Richardson

Authors
  1. Nigel R. Franks
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  2. Tom Richardson
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nigel R. Franks.

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Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Methods

(DOC 291 kb)

Supplementary Movie

Video clip shows a pair of tandem-running ants, Temnothorax albipennis. (MOV 5125 kb)

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Franks, N., Richardson, T. Teaching in tandem-running ants. Nature 439, 153 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/439153a

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