logo
ResearchBunny Logo
Abstract
This study investigates the individual decision-making processes underlying collective hygiene in ants. Using garden ants and fungal pathogens, the researchers identified behavioral rules governing individual ant grooming choices and their contribution to colony-level hygiene. Time-resolved behavioral analysis, pathogen quantification, and probabilistic modeling revealed that ants increase grooming and preferentially target highly infected individuals when perceiving high pathogen loads, but temporarily suppress grooming after being groomed themselves. These individual decisions, based on local and dynamically updated information, synergistically lead to efficient colony-wide pathogen removal.
Publisher
Nature Communications
Published On
Jun 03, 2023
Authors
Barbara Casillas-Pérez, Katarina Bodová, Anna V. Grasse, Gasper Tkacik, Sylvia Cremer
Tags
ant hygiene
grooming behavior
pathogen removal
colony dynamics
individual decision-making
fungal pathogens

Related Publications

Explore these studies to deepen your understanding of the subject.

Dynamic and stable hippocampal representations of social identity and reward expectation support associative social memory in male mice
Psychology

Dynamic and stable hippocampal representations of social identity and reward expectation support associative social memory in male mice

E. Kong, K. Lee, et al.

Dynamic social interactions and keystone species shape the diversity and stability of mixed-species biofilms – an example from dairy isolates
Biology

Dynamic social interactions and keystone species shape the diversity and stability of mixed-species biofilms – an example from dairy isolates

F. A. Sadiq, K. D. Reu, et al.

The sharing economy in the hospitality sector: The role of social interaction, social presence, and reciprocity in eliciting satisfaction and continuance behavior
Business

The sharing economy in the hospitality sector: The role of social interaction, social presence, and reciprocity in eliciting satisfaction and continuance behavior

L. H. Lho, W. Quan, et al.

Changes in chronotype and social jetlag during adolescence and their association with concurrent changes in BMI-SDS and body composition, in the DONALD Study
Health and Fitness

Changes in chronotype and social jetlag during adolescence and their association with concurrent changes in BMI-SDS and body composition, in the DONALD Study

N. Jankovic, S. Schmitting, et al.

Listen, Learn & Level Up
Over 10,000 hours of research content in 25+ fields, available in 12+ languages.
No more digging through PDFs—just hit play and absorb the world's latest research in your language, on your time.
listen to research audio papers with researchbunny