Tandem Running

Tandem running is considered by many authors as the simplest recruitment behavior (Lenoir and Jaisson 1982, Agbogba 1984, Passera and Aron 2006). Jaffe (1984) distinguishes two main types of tandem running. The first one occurs when the scout attracts a nesmate using antennal contact and leads it in tandem to the food resource. The second type is the tandem running with odor signals, also called tandem calling, in which a scout uses chemical cues for either orienting itself back to the food source or to help attract nesmates. In both case, the two ants keep a physical contact with each other (Beckers et al. 1989).

Wilson (1959) has an account of this behavior in Cardiocondyla venustula and Schultheiss, Raderschall & Narendra (2015) discuss its significance in the Australian Camponotus consobrinus.

Photo Gallery

Tandem running in Temnothorax clypeatus. Photo by Michal Kukla.
Tandem running in Temnothorax clypeatus. Photo by Michal Kukla.
Tandem running in Camponotus consobrinus. Photo by Steve Shattuck.
Ponera coarctata workers tandem running. Photo by Michal Kukla.
Temnothorax crassispinus tandem running. Photo by Michal Kukla.

Videos of workers exhibiting tandem running

Camponotus consobrinus

Cardiocondyla

Temnothorax

Temnothorax, during colony emigration

Temnothorax

Species Known to use Tandem Running

These species are known to use tandem running during foraging and/or nest moving.

The following list is based on Franklin (2014) with additions from various sources.

Subfamily	Species or Genera	Tandem running recruitment context	Reference
Bothroponera crassa	Ponerinae		Hölldobler & Engel, 1978
Bothroponera tesseronoda	Ponerinae	Food and nest	Jessen and Maschwitz 1986, Maschwitz et al. 1974
Camponotus consobrinus	Formicinae		Schultheiss, Raderschall & Narendra, 2015
Camponotus sericeus	Formicinae	Food and nest	Holldobler et al. 1974
Camponotus socius	Formicinae	Food and nest	Holldobler 1971
Cardiocondyla emeryi	Myrmicinae	Food	Wheeler 1908 cited in Wilson 1959
Cardiocondyla venustula	Myrmicinae	Food	Wilson 1959
Harpagoxenus canadensis	Myrmicinae	Slave raids	Buschinger et al. 1980
Harpagoxenus sublaevis	Myrmicinae	Slave raids and nest	Buschinger and Winter 1977; Adlerz 1986
Hypoponera sp.	Ponerinae	Food	Agbogba 1984
Hypoponera eduardi	Ponerinae		Beckers et al., 1989
Leptothorax acervorum	Myrmicinae	Food and nest	Moglich et al. 1974
Leptothorax crassipilis	Myrmicinae	Food and nest	Moglich et al. 1974
Leptothorax muscorum	Myrmicinae	Food and nest	Moglich et al. 1974
Mesoponera caffraria	Ponerinae	Food	Agbogba 1984
Neoponera apicalis	Ponerinae	Nest	Fresneau 1985
Neoponera obscuricornis	Ponerinae	Food	Holldobler and Traniello 1980
Neoponera villosa	Ponerinae	Food	Fresneau 1985
Odontomachus haematodus	Ponerinae		Hölldobler & Engel, 1978
Pachycondyla harpax	Ponerinae		Hölldobler & Engel, 1978
Ponera coarctata	Ponerinae
Polyrhachis proxima	Formicinae	Food	Liefke et al. 2001
Temnothorax albipennis	Myrmicinae	Food and nest	Mallon et al. 2001, Franks and Richardson 2006
Temnothorax clypeatus	Myrmicinae
Temnothorax curvispinosus	Myrmicinae	Food and nest	Pratt 2008
Temnothorax muellerianus	Myrmicinae	Slave raids	Buschinger et al. 1980
Temnothorax nylanderi	Myrmicinae	Food and nest	Moglich et al. 1974; Glaser and Grüter, 2018
Temnothorax rugatulus	Myrmicinae	Food and nest	Moglich, 1978; Pratt 2008
Temnothorax unifasciatus	Myrmicinae	Food	Lane 1977

References

Agbogba C. 1984. Observations sur le comportement de marche en tandem chez deux especes de fourmis ponerines : Mesoponera caffraria (Smith) et Hypoponera sp. (Hym : Formicidae). Insectes Sociaux 31(3) : 264-276.
Agbogba C. 1992. Settlement in the prey termite nest by the ponerine ant Pachycondyla caffraria (Smith), and Tandem Running Signal Analysis for the Following Ant. Journal of Ethology 10: 133-137.
Beckers R., S. Goss, J.L. Deneubourg and J.M. Pasteels. 1989. Colony size, communication and ant foraging strategy. Psyche 96: 239-256.
Franklin, E.L. 2014. The journey of tandem running: the twists, turns and what we have learned. Insectes Sociaux 61:1-8 (doi:10.1007/s00040-013-0325-3).
Franks, N.R., Richardson, T. 2006. Teaching in tandem-running ants. Nature 439: 153 (doi:10.1038/439153a).
Fresneau, D. 1985. Individual foraging and path fidelity in a ponerine ant. Insectes Sociaux 32:109-116.
Glaser, S.M., Feitosa, R.M., Koch, A., Goß, N., do Nascimento, F.S., Grüter, C. 2021. Tandem communication improves ant foraging success in a highly competitive tropical habitat. Insectes Sociaux. (doi:10.1007/s00040-021-00810-y).
Glaser, S. M. and C. Gruter. 2018. Ants (Temnothorax nylanderi) adjust tandem running when food source distance exposes them to greater risks. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. 72:8. doi:10.1007/s00265-018-2453-2
Gruter, C., M. Wust, A. P. Cipriano, and F. S. Nascimento. 2018. Tandem Recruitment and Foraging in the Ponerine Ant Pachycondyla harpax (Fabricius). Neotropical Entomology. 47:742-749. doi:10.1007/s13744-017-0571-6
Hölldobler B. and H. Engel. 1978. Tergal and sterna glands in ants. Psyche 85: 285-330.
Hölldobler, B., Moglich, M. and Maschwitz, U. 1974. Communication by Tandem Running in the Ant Camponotus sericeus. J. comp. Physiol. 90, 105-127.
Jaffe K. 1984. Negentropy and the evolution of chemical recruitment in ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Journal of Theoretical Biology 106: 587-604.
Jessen K. and U. Maschwitz 1985. Individual specific trails in the ant Pachycondyla tesserinoda (Formicidae, Ponerinae). Naturwissenschaften 72: 549-550.
Jessen K. and U. Maschwitz 1986. Orientation and recruitment behavior in the ponerine ant Pachycondyla tesserinoda (Emery): laying of individual-specific trails during tandem running. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 19: 151-155.
Kaur, R., Joseph, J., Anoop, K., Sumana, A. 2017. Characterization of recruitment through tandem running in an Indian queenless ant Diacamma indicum. Royal Society Open Science 41, 160476 (doi:10.1098/rsos.160476).
Lenoir A. and P. Jaisson. 1982. Evolution et rôle des communications antennaires chez les insectes sociaux. In Social Insect in the Tropic Vol.1. Université Paris-Nord. Jaisson, P. (Ed.). Chapter 9, p 157-180.
Mackay, W. P., and E. E. Mackay 2010. The Systematics and Biology of the New World Ants of the Genus Pachycondyla (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Edwin Mellon Press, Lewiston.
Maschwitz, U., Hölldobler, B., Möglich, M. 1974. Tandemlaufen als Rekrutierungsverhalten bei Bothroponera tesserinoda Forel. Zeitschrift für Tierpsychologie 35: 113-123.
Möglich, M. 1978. Social organization of nest emigration in Leptothorax (Hym., Form.). Insectes Sociaux 25(3), 205–225 (doi:10.1007/bf02224742).
Passera L. and S. Aron. 2006. Les fourmis: comportement, organisation sociale et évolution. CNRC-NRC press. Ottawa. 480pages.
Sasaki, T., Danczak, L., Thompson, B., Morshed, T., Pratt, S.C. 2020. Route learning during tandem running in the rock ant Temnothorax albipennis. The Journal of Experimental Biology 223, jeb221408 (doi:10.1242/JEB.221408).
Schultheiss P, Raderschall CA, Narendra A. 2015. Follower ants in a tandem pair are not always naïve. Scientific Reports 5: 10747.
Silva, J. P., Valadares, L., Vieira, M. E. L., Teseo, S., Châline, N. 2021. Tandem running by foraging Pachycondyla striata workers in field conditions vary in response to food type, food distance, and environmental conditions. Current Zoology 67(5), 541–549 (doi:10.1093/cz/zoab050).
Schultheiss, P., Raderschall, C. A., Narendra, A. 2015. Follower ants in a tandem pair are not always naïve. Scientific Reports 5: 10747 (doi:10.1038/srep10747).
Wilson, E. O. 1959. Communication by Tandem Running in the Ant Genus Cardiocondyla. Psyche. 66:29-34. DOI:10.1155/1959/29093