Stigmergy Algorithms
There is in practice a large number of algorithms claiming to be "ant colonies", without always sharing the general framework of optimization by canonical ant colonies (COA). In practice, the use of an exchange of information between ants via the environment (a principle called "Stigmergy") is deemed enough for an algorithm to belong to the class of ant colony algorithms. This principle has led some authors to create the term "value" to organize methods and behavior based on search of food, sorting larvae, division of labour and cooperative transportation.
Read more about this topic: Ant Colony Optimization Algorithms