Communication is essential during animal conflicts. Due to their high degree of sociality, ants are model organisms for the study of communication during conflict situations. Ants often use chemicals (pheromones) for inter-individual communication. Whether pheromones are an evolutionary stable way of conveying in conflict situations remains controversial. Are pheromones really honest signals of an individual's reproductive capacity? Research into the origin and chemical properties of pheromones that play a role in the reproductive division of labour will provide insight in this.