Social evolution: the smell of cheating.
Coercion is a powerful means to enforce altruism and promote social cohesion in animal groups, but it requires the reliable identification of selfish individuals. Experiments in a desert ant provide the first direct proof that a single cuticular hydrocarbon elicits the policing of reproductive workers by other colony members.
Chapuisat
Michel
M
Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, Biophore, Quartier Sorge, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland. Michel.Chapuisat@unil.ch
D000533:Altruism; D000819:Animal Communication; D000818:Animals; D001000:Ants; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D005075:Biological Evolution; D008192:Deception; D005260:Female; D006838:Hydrocarbons / Q000737:chemistry; D008297:Male; D009812:Odorants; D012903:Smell / Q000502:physiology; D012919:Social Behavior
D006838:Hydrocarbons