When infected by a fungal disease, ant pupae actively emit a chemical cue that prompts workers to get rid of them for the ...

Young, infected Lasius neglectus ants will send out an altruistic "kill me" signal to worker ants, a new study finds, as part ...

The research focused on Lasius neglectus, a species of garden ant. Unlike adult workers, which can leave the nest to die when they are gravely ill, young pupae are immobile and remain sealed in ...

When worker ants inspect the pupae and encounter the scent, they get busy unpacking the cocoon and creating small openings in the pupae's body by biting it. Next, they disinfect the pupae with formic ...

Deep inside an ant nest, some of the youngest members are primed to die for the group. When infection strikes, these baby ...

In a remarkable display of self-sacrifice, baby ants infected with a deadly fungus deliberately signal worker ants to kill them. This extreme measure prevents the spread of disease, protecting the ...

The critical factor for determining which ants become queens or workers may be as simple as some extra insulin. In a study published Thursday in the journal Science, researchers showed that the genes ...

Ant species that evolved thinner shells traded individual armor protection for increases in colony size, enabling improved food gathering, task organization and defense, according to researchers from ...

Some ants thrive by choosing numbers over strength. Instead of heavily protecting each worker, they invest fewer resources in individual armor and produce far more ants. Larger colonies then ...

Zombies are among us. And these tiny undead creatures are everywhere. In this excerpt from "Rise of the Zombie Bugs" (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2025), author Mindy Weisberger examines the very ...

Queen ants live far longer than genetically identical workers. Researchers are learning what their longevity secrets could mean for aging in other species. Animals that produce many offspring tend to ...