How do ants find food?
Quick answer from Eartha
Ants find food with their super sniffy antennae, then leave a smelly trail for their friends to follow. When one ant finds a crumb, it walks back home leaving invisible scent marks. Other ants smell the trail and follow it straight to the food. Teamwork makes the ant colony strong!
The longer story
Ants cannot see very far, but they have amazing antennae on their heads that can smell things close by, a bit like a very sensitive nose.
When a scout ant finds food, it does not just eat and leave. It walks back to the nest, leaving a trail of special scent called a pheromone along the way.
Other ants smell this trail and follow it straight to the food, adding their own scent as they go. This is why ants often walk in a neat line, one after another.
The more ants that use a trail, the stronger the smell becomes, so busy trails attract even more hungry helpers. This teamwork lets a whole colony share food quickly.
Try this at home: Ant trail hunt
- Look outside near a garden or footpath for a line of ants.
- Watch quietly for two minutes and see if they are walking in the same path.
- Try to spot where the trail starts and ends, like a nest or a dropped crumb.
Words to know
- antennae
- The two long feelers on an ant's head used for smelling and touching.
- pheromone
- A special scent message that ants leave for other ants to follow.
- colony
- A big group of ants that live and work together in one nest.
For grown-ups: what is my child learning here?
Age band: 5-8
Curriculum link: Australian Curriculum v9 Science, AC9S2U01
The concept: Animals have external features and behaviours that help them survive, including communication methods.
More classroom ideas are on our teachers page, and safety notes for families are on for parents.
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