ant fact archive

Sophie Reinhold, Return of the fool, 2019

Sophie Reinhold

Return of the fool
2019
oil and marble powder on jute
190×140 cm
courtesy of the artist

When an ant leaves home, she carries the distinct colony smell on her body for a long time.19 If this scent gets masked or washed off, however, her nest mates will attack her aggressively, no longer recognizing their sister.20

  • According to research conducted on Prairie Mound Ants, Formica montana.
  • Henderson et al., 1990