Antfollowing

Antfollowing is a foraging behavior in which a predator, scavenger, or other organism tracks the activity of foraging ants to locate food resources. The behavior can involve following physical trails, aggregations of ants, or the prey that ants drive from their hiding places. Antfollowing is typically opportunistic rather than a fixed ecological niche, and it often yields a reliable food source with reduced search effort for the follower.

The phenomenon is documented across several animal groups, most prominently in birds in the Neotropics. Ant-following birds, particularly antbirds and some woodcreepers, time their movements to army ant swarms, feeding on insects and other small prey flushed out by the ants. Similar strategies have been observed in other vertebrates and invertebrates that can exploit the disturbance and prey mobility created by ant foraging. In some cases, ants themselves are part of a more complex interaction where the follower benefits from the ants’ activity without significantly harming the ants.

Mechanisms and variation: Followers may respond to the predictable, outward flow of prey as ants advance, or they may exploit the disturbance created when ants move through leaf litter, soil, or other substrates. The strength and nature of the association can range from commensal (the follower benefits while the ants are unaffected) to, in some contexts, more mutualistic or context-dependent relationships, depending on species and habitat.

Ecological significance: Antfollowing highlights how animal communities exploit the foraging strategies of others, contributing to biodiversity patterns in forests and savannas. It also illustrates the complexity of interspecific interactions centered on resource pulses generated by ant activity. See also myrmecophily and army ant foraging.