While ants are well known for their ability to carry far more than their own body weight, they also employ a system to maximize their efficiency.
According to BBC News, authors of a study published in the journal Nature Communications observed as a team of ants divided various tasks among themselves. For example, when carrying a piece of food far too large for ant, a large group would share the load while a select few "scouts" directed them.
"The individual ant has the idea of how to pass an obstacle but lacks the muscle power to move the load," study lead author Ofer Feinerman, of the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, told AFP. "The group is there to amplify the leader's strength so that she can actually implement her idea.
"As far as we can tell, the scout is no different than the other ants."
There was also a single leader that interchanged periodically when a new one comes up with fresher, more relevant information to complete the task at hand.
"This leader that comes along, she doesn't have to introduce herself, she doesn't have to be stronger than the rest - she just has to pull in the correct direction," Feinerman told BBC News. "The only communication in the system is the forces that they feel through the object.
"If you move something huge, you need many, many more ants. And then the force that each ant feels through the object is much stronger. So... all the ants feel a stronger urge to act as conformists."
