Do Ants Know Where They're Going?

[AndiFlatland]

A couple of years ago, to my great annoyance, the owners of my home decided we would no longer have a flower bed in the front garden, and concreted it all over. [Stupid ***!!]
There is a square concrete plinth which used to be the coal hole, back in the days when the heating was from a coal fire in the basement, with the heat fed through pipework to the upper floors. This is a nice little suntrap during the warmer months, where I sit all day if the weather permits, reading, chatting to passing friends and watching the wildlife - not profuse in an inner part of suburban south London, but still interesting.
The new concrete wasteland is completely bereft of wildlife - but for the last couple of summers, I've been surprised to see, sitting in my little suntrap on the old coal hole, ants crawling about on the concrete, apparently quite unconcerned about the enormity of the area they have to explore. Which led me to wonder: do they know where they're going? Do they have some ultimate destination in mind, or do they just wander around at random until they arrive at some place which seems like a good place for a rest-up for the night? Do they have a home to go to?

[retrocop]

They are making their way, eventually, to Ant artica.

[seekeerz]

In a word - yes :)

[Buenchico]

https://news.cnrs.fr/articles/ants-have-a-mighty-sense-of-direction

[seekeerz]

So that's where he got to - thanks Chris, I always wondered :))

[gness]

Yesterday I lifted a flat stone from our wall and brought it down the field to make a water feature. Then I discovered that underneath was covered in ants so I took them back to the wall.
Needn’t have bothered if I’d known they could make their own way.

[seekeerz]

Lol gness xx

[bunkmoreland]

I spent an afternoon watching ants gather "stuff" and pass it from one to another until they were out of my sight. They definetely knew where they were going:-)

[Old_Geezer]

But they may have liked a move to a water feature.

[douglas9401]

I've always been very anty walls.

[Old_Geezer]

Ever since you were told they had ears.