Like a brain, an ant colony operates without central control. Each is a set of interacting individuals, either neurons or ants, using simple chemical interactions that in the aggregate generate their ...

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 survival of an ant colony depends on its members being able to distinguish their own nestmates from ants of a foreign -- and possibly hostile -- colony. This so-called nestmate recognition is ...

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

Everything in the ant hill seems to need the liquid secretions from members of the colony that are in their pupal stage. By Joshua Sokol Orli Snir, a biologist at the Rockefeller University in New ...

Groups of social animals, including humans, can make complex decisions without a single central leader. Those choices aren't always made by the majority, however. In fact, a relatively small number of ...

Illness usually brings trouble in the animal world. A weak member may be pushed aside, attacked, or left behind. Many animals go to great lengths to hide sickness. But for creatures bound by family, ...

Leafcutter ants of the American tropics exemplify animals that exhibit superorganism status, advanced social organization and symbiosis. As you walk through the jungle you become aware of these ...

In a fascinating new study from the September/October 2006 issue of Physiological and Biochemical Zoology, Daniel A. Hahn (University of Florida) explores the ability of ants to store excess fat and ...

Ants are a perfect model to study cooperation, especially when it comes to preventing the spread of disease. Similar to a hospital, healthy individuals take care of sick ones. However, while a ...