![foraging ants navigate more efficiently when given energy drink like doses of caffeine](https://utterbuzz.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/foraging-ants-navigate-more-efficiently-when-given-energy-drink-like-doses-of-caffeine-640x360.jpg)
Ants who receive a caffeine-laced sugary reward become more efficient at navigating back to the reward’s location compared to ants that only receive sugar. Caffeinated ants move toward the reward via a more direct path but do not increase their speed, suggesting that caffeine improved their ability to learn. The study was conducted on Argentine ants (Linepithema humile), a globally invasive species, and the researchers say that incorporating caffeine into ant baits could aid efforts to control the ants by improving bait uptake.