Israeli scientists have discovered the mechanism behind cooperation that comes from ants to carry heavy food items, like an insect, back to their nests. The heavy lifting is not actually a big problem as it is being take care by a large team of ants, but the real problem comes from not being able to sense right direction.

The researchers have figured out that a small number of scouts help the group of ants find the right path for short periods. The researchers said they noticed a mathematically perfect balance between individuality and conformism.

For the study, the researchers looked at videos of ants carrying oversized food items, including Cheerios. The findings have been published in the journal Nature Communications. The longhorn crazy ant, a very common species, was chosen by scientists for the study.

"As far as we can tell the scout is no different to the other ants. No one designates the leader, she designates herself because she has current knowledge about the correct direction", said Ofer Feinermann, physicist at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot and study's lead author.

Feinermann added that the group of ants carrying heavy load is highly sensitive to the leader's ants. The leader is not required to introduce itself and need not be stronger than the rest. All that is required to lead the group is to steer in the correct direction.

Prof. Nigel Franks, who runs the Ant Lab at the University of Bristol, said the study has showed that those ants that join the group know the direction the object should be going.