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The Conversation
Tanya Latty, Associate Professor in Entomology, University of Sydney

In an ant colony, the queen isn’t in charge. So who is?

Photo by Prabir Kashyap on Unsplash

Imagine trying to build a house without a blueprint, find a shortcut through an unfamiliar city without a map, or govern a large organisation with no leaders and no meetings.

It sounds impossible. Yet tiny-brained ants, working without leaders or blueprints, have been solving problems like these for millions of years – and no, the queen isn’t the boss telling them what to do.

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