Army ants use collective intelligence to build bridges. Robots could learn from them

https://www.npr.org/2023/11/21/ [login to see] /army-ants-architecture-science-robots-research
Studying army ants for a living comes with certain occupational hazards.

"They're very aggressive," says Isabella Muratore at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. "They have venom, so they will sting you and they will bite you. It's not that bad. It's just that you're usually getting stung by hundreds of them at once."

The ants are fierce predators, devouring other insects – sometimes even frogs, lizards and birds. But what's even more remarkable about them is their architectural prowess.

Muratore has been studying how army ants build bridges by linking their bodies, which could give scientists insights into controlling swarms of robots. She presented her work at a meeting of the Entomological Society of America in early November.