First footage of beautiful tandem runs of Camponotus sericeus ants in our lab. These ants were collected south of the Dead Sea to participate in Daphna’s behavioral-genomics experiments. In a super-sized arena, the ants call on nestmates in a one-on-one recruitment behavior known as “tandem run”. The leader shows the way and the follower keeps up close behind her to learn the route to a new food source, an new nest site, or sometimes to join an assault on an adversary neighboring nest.
Photo credit: Pnina Cohen