I just read a blurb about this in the past week, but when I did an internet search, I found the original study was performed in 2006 - fourteen long years ago! This particular experiment was designed to determine whether ants count their steps. Apparently, they do.
The researchers "made modifications" to desert ants to test the idea. They set up an ant nest, let 25 ants take a 10-meter walk from home, then gathered them up. In one group, the researchers glued tiny stilts to the ants' legs (awkward!). In another group, they CLIPPED the ants' legs to make them shorter (poor ants!!!). The control group's legs were left alone (whew!).
They gave each ant a tiny bit of food and set it free. The ants headed for "home." The hypothesis was if the ants do indeed count their steps, the "modified" ants wouldn't be able to find home. The stilted ants would overshoot the mark, and the "stumpy" (their descriptor) ants would fall short.
The hypothesis was proved! Neither group of "modified" ants made it home. The ants on stilts went about 5 meters too far, and the "stumpy" ants stopped about 5 meters short. The control ants had no problem finding their way back.
They then let the "modified" ants take another walk, and they had no problem returning home.
Interesting, but oh, the poor ants - especially the "stumpies!"
Anyway, you can read more about it here.
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