This report outlines the biological inspiration behind the development of the first ant-inspired algorithms. The report then identifies two of these ant-inspired algorithms, their relation to the biological models and offers a contrast and comparison between them. Finally the report describes and analyses the ACO meta-heuristic framework to which a subset of ant-inspired algorithms belong. The Sahara and Namib deserts are two of the most unforgiving environments on our planet, yet two species of ants: the cataglyphis and ocymyrmex have evolved to fill this unique ecological niche.