Why can't ants escape from insidious circles of death

In different parts of the world, researchers are observing an unusual natural phenomenon, the exact cause of which has not yet been identified. These are the so-called spirals of death or ant circles.

The essence of this unusual phenomenon is as follows. For an unknown reason, ants begin to move in a circle, following each other. The number of participants in this procession is gradually increasing, attracting more and more working ants. And this crazy cycle continues until all ants die from fatigue and hunger.

Although there have been recorded cases of miraculous deliverance. So, for example, the American William Bib in 1921 observed an ant circle with a diameter of 180 meters, which lasted about 2 days. The route of movement was already strewn with the corpses of ants, when a small group of insects turned to the side and, thus, saved the surviving brethren.

The most likely cause of such an ant disaster, which is most often observed in the forests of South and Central America, scientists consider the pheromone trail. Pheromones are special strong-smelling substances that are secreted by animals, including ants, and serve to orient themselves and communicate with their own kind. Going in search of food, the ant leaves a pheromone trace along the road, with the help of which his brothers follow him, and he himself determines the route home on the return path. But at some point, several ants may go astray and attack their own footprint, which emits a fresh smell. Well, then in this pursuit of himself, more and more new participants are involved, whom death will inevitably await.

Some researchers suggest that the cause of the formation of spirals of death may be magnetic anomalies, which knock ants out of the way and cause them to begin to move in a circle. In support of this, there are cases of the movement of ants around a cell phone, which, in fact, have a similar nature.

But really, moving in a narrow circle, ants do not see that this is a trap? Most probably not. The fact is that many species of ants have poor eyesight, so they orient themselves in space with a good sense of smell. Blind trust in what they feel, and sometimes leads to such deplorable consequences.