The Conversation

How ants walk backwards carrying a heavy load and still find home

Author: Ravindra Palavalli Nettimi, PhD student in Ecological Neuroscience, Macquarie University

Imagine carrying something heavy, like a couch, and walking backwards as you move it to a desired place. Now imagine doing it alone every day for tens of kilometres, but with the same ease as walking forwards and still reaching the place.

This is similar to what the Jack Jumper ant, Myrmecia croslandi, does almost everyday.

But the ability of these...

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