Social evolution: sick ants face death alone.
Social insects not only live altruistically, they die so: a new study reveals that moribund ants abandon their nests to die in seclusion, which reduces the risk of transmitting diseases to relatives.
Chapuisat
Michel
M
Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, Biophore, Quartier Sorge, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland. Michel.Chapuisat@unil.ch <Michel.Chapuisat@unil.ch>
D000818:Animals; D001000:Ants / Q000382:microbiology / Q000502:physiology*; D005075:Biological Evolution; D052981:Metarhizium / Q000472:pathogenicity; D012919:Social Behavior