US EditionAnt Brood Signal Deadly Infection in Altruistic Self-Sacrifice
Terminally ill Lasius neglectus pupae emit a chemical signal causing workers to kill them, preventing infection spread and protecting the colony, researchers said.
- On December 2, researchers at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria and University of Würzburg published that Lasius neglectus pupae produce a chemical signal prompting workers to destroy them, the study appearing in Nature Communications.
- Because pupae are immobile inside cocoons, ant colonies act as a 'superorganism' prioritizing group survival over individuals, as nests face disease risks without pupae self-isolation.
- Only sick pupae near adult workers produced non-volatile compounds on the pupal body surface, and workers removed cocoons, bit holes, and injected formic acid; lab experiments confirmed applying this smell triggered destruction.
- Because queens possess stronger immune defenses, Dawson said `While it is a sacrifice-- an altruistic act-- it's also in their own interest, because it means that their genes are going to survive and be passed on to the next generation,' and future research will test queen responses.
- The study positions social immunity as analogous to organismal immune systems, with scientists likening pupae signals to multicellular immune 'find-me and eat-me' signals during lab infection protocol with Metarhizium brunneum.
36 Articles
36 Articles
Baby Ants Beg for Death When They’re Sick, Study Finds
Ants are already some of the strangest neighbors we have on this planet. They farm, they build underground cities, they coordinate traffic better than most drivers on a Friday commute. And now we can add something darker to the list. When young ants get fatally sick, they ask to be killed. Not figuratively. Literally. They release a chemical signal that tells older workers they’re done for and need to be removed before they become a problem. Tha…
Ant pups have developed a radical behavior to protect their colony: when they detect that they have an incurable infection, they emit a chemical signal that alerts workers to their terminal state. This warning triggers a lethal process, but necessary following an altruistic survival instinct, in which workers unpack their cocoon’s pupa, create small openings in their body and apply formic acid, a natural disinfectant that kills both pathogens an…
Doomed ants send a final scent to save their colony
Ant pupae that are fatally sick don’t hide their condition; instead, they release a special scent that warns the rest of the colony. This signal prompts worker ants to open the pupae’s cocoons and disinfect them with formic acid, stopping the infection before it can spread. Although the treatment kills the sick pupa, it protects the colony and helps ensure its long-term survival. Researchers found that only pupae too sick to recover send this sc…
'Come and kill me'
Sick young ants release a smell to tell worker ants to destroy them to protect the colony from infection, scientists said Tuesday, adding that queens do not seem to commit this act of self-sacrifice. Many animals conceal illness for social reasons. For example, sick humans are known to risk infecting others so they can still go to the office -- or the pub. Ant colonies, however, act as one "super-organism" which works to ensure the survival of a…
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