Ants use odor trails to guide them to food sources that scout ants have found. This article describes the positioning and use of bait stations to control these ants. A scout ant in search of food leaves the nest and, in the random search pattern that follows, takes a somewhat meandering path outward, until she finds food. She then feeds on the food source and heads straight back to the nest. Somehow on the outgoing trip she can keep track of her position with respect to her nest, and, on the return trip, uses this information to take the shorter, more direct route home. On the way back to the nest, she lays down an odor trail.

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