Ants Carrying Chips

Foraging ants travel distances of up to 200 metres (700 ft) from their nest and usually find their way back using scent trails. Some ants forage at night. Day foraging ants in hot and arid regions face death by desiccation, so the ability to find the shortest route back to the nest reduces that risk. Diurnal desert ants (Cataglyphis fortis) use visual landmarks in combination with other cues to navigate. In the absence of visual landmarks, the closely related Sahara desert ant (Cataglyphis bicolor) navigates by keeping track of direction as well as distance travelled, like an internal pedometer that counts how many steps they take in each direction. They integrate this information to find the shortest route back to their nest. Several species of ants are able to use the Earth's magnetic field. Ants' compound eyes have specialised cells that detect polarised light from the Sun, which is used to determine direction. These polarization detectors are sensitive in the ultraviolet region of the light spectrum. In some army ant species, a group of foragers that get separated from the main column can sometimes turn back on themselves and form a circular ant mill. The workers may then run around continuously until they die of exhaustion.
Locomotion
Worker ants do not have wings and reproductive females lose their wings after their mating flights in order to begin their colonies. Therefore, unlike their wasp ancestors, most ants travel by walking. Some species are capable of leaping. For example, Jerdon's jumping ant (Harpegnathos saltator) is able to jump by synchronising the action of its mid and hind pairs of legs. There are several species of gliding ant including Cephalotes atratus; this may be a common trait among most arboreal ants. Ants with this ability are able to control the direction of their descent while falling.