In the ant world an isolated ant wanders purposeless and lost.
Direction comes with numbers.
The ant intelligence is collaborative and cooperative. There are no leaders, or hierarchies, or management structures. It appears as though ant consciousness is born in something like Sheldrake's morphic fields and resides within a multitude of ants. They seem to work for the good of the colony when the numbers are sufficient. Whereas the individual ant without the colony is almost chaotic, the ant within the colony knows what to do and can engage in useful ant behaviour.