Abstract: Ants are social insects with a precise labor division in their colony. They have complex cognitive and collective behaviors, including tool use, spatial navigation, value recognition, associative learning, information transmission, emotional awareness, self-assemblage, and collective transport. When using tools, workers can select tools that match the specific context, and optimize the efficiency of tool use. Workers possess sophisticated navigational abilities, relying on both internal information and external signals such as visual and olfactory cues. Individual worker has the value judgment of different types of information and can form the memory of the information through associative learning. Workers also exhibit behavior as empathy towards their nestmates, often assisting individuals that appear to be in distress. Ants are capable of self-assembling their bodies to benefit their nestmates, balancing energy expenditure to optimize the overall efficiency of the colony. When encountering large foods, many workers can efficiently collaborate to transport the food back to the nest. Ants possess various cognitive abilities, but the neural basis of these abilities remains to be addressed. This review highlights recent advances in the understanding of ant cognitive behaviors, which contribute to a deeper comprehension of animal cognition.

Key words: social insect, tool use, cognition, navigation, associative learning