Sick ants become unsociable

Parasites represent a severe threat to social insects, which form high‐density colonies of related individuals, and selection should favour host traits that reduce infection risk. Here, using a carpenter ant (Camponotus aethiops) and a generalist insect pathogenic fungus (Metarhizium brunneum), we s...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of evolutionary biology 2012-02, Vol.25 (2), p.342-351
Main Authors: BOS, N., LEFÈVRE, T., JENSEN, A. B., D’ETTORRE, P.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aggression
Animal behavior
Animals
ants
Ants - microbiology
Ants - physiology
Behavior, Animal
Camponotus
chemical communication
Colonies
Evolutionary biology
host‐parasite interaction
infection
Insects
life history evolution
Life Sciences
Metarhizium - physiology
Parasites
Pathology
Social Behavior
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Summary:Parasites represent a severe threat to social insects, which form high‐density colonies of related individuals, and selection should favour host traits that reduce infection risk. Here, using a carpenter ant (Camponotus aethiops) and a generalist insect pathogenic fungus (Metarhizium brunneum), we show that infected ants radically change their behaviour over time to reduce the risk of colony infection. Infected individuals (i) performed less social interactions than their uninfected counterparts, (ii) did not interact with brood anymore and (iii) spent most of their time outside the nest from day 3 post‐infection until death. Furthermore, infected ants displayed an increased aggressiveness towards non‐nestmates. Finally, infected ants did not alter their cuticular chemical profile, suggesting that infected individuals do not signal their physiological status to nestmates. Our results provide evidence for the evolution of unsociability following pathogen infection in a social animal and suggest an important role of inclusive fitness in driving such evolution.
ISSN:1010-061X
1420-9101
DOI:10.1111/j.1420-9101.2011.02425.x