What was discovered?

Desert ants in Tunisia are the first living organism to have been shown to use stereo smell, using each of their two antennae separately to detect molecules around them for navigation.  The information helps them create an 'odour map'.

How?

The odour map was made up of four different chemicals that the ants could use to mark their nest before venturing out into the bleak sandy landscape to find food - imagine being an ant 100 metres from home and not remembering which direction you just came from!

Visual cues don't help a lot in the desert, so being able to smell the way home could mean the only way to survive, if you are an ant!

Two antennae were needed for this trick - ants with only one antenna got lost!

Why is it important?

Although pigeons, rats and possibly even people have also been shown to smell in stereo, this is the first documented case of an animal navigating in this way.