Each individual ant is capable of independent action, but its genes are programmed so that it always behaves as if its own needs and desires are less important than the welfare of the overall colony. Furthermore, individual ants are designed, as a result of evolution, to perform certain circumscribed tasks within the framework of the colony. The queen s tasks, for example, include the creation of the nest, the laying of the right combination of initial eggs, the nurturing of the early offspring until they reach maturity and can perform their predetermined tasks, and the subsequent generation of thousands, or even millions of new eggs for the colony. The males live for only one event, the prenuptial mating flight in which they may, if they are lucky, inseminate a queen who will survive to found her own colony. The infertile daughter workers, by far the most numerous of the morphs in each of the ant species, spend their entire lives feeding, foraging, defending and doing whatever is necessary to support the colony.
Communication is a hallmark of all highly-evolved species.
Ants employ a variety of means of communicating, including squeaking, tapping and stroking, but by far their most sophisticated way of exchanging information is the use of chemical substances from their battery of exocrine glands. Each particular chemical compound has a distinct and well-understood meaning to all members of that species of ant. Altogether, depending upon the particular species, ants use between 10 and 20 separate words and phrases, each defined by a specific chemical compound, to talk among themselves. It is easy to imagine that a very complex language, capable of communicating complicated concepts, could easily be created from these basic building blocks. With the future advent of this more advanced language, ants would obviously be able to perform the tasks necessary to develop technology.