New research reveals that reproductive individuals depend on their worker ants not only to forage for food and do the heavy lifting for the colony, but also to indirectly enhance their own pathogen resistance. The sterile worker ants need not save resources and energy for reproductive purposes so instead, fully invest in enhancing their pathogen resistance.
Read more“Defensive mixology,” an ant mechanism used to reduce pathogens
Top ant cadaver covered in pathogen Metarhizium brunneum.
Tree resins evolved to reduce fungal, bacterial and insect pathogens and parasites. This new research shows that these properties are not only harnessed by wood ants, but actively enhanced through the application of two acids the ants produce.
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