Wound treatment and selective help in a termite-hunting ant

Détails

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Etat: Public
Version: de l'auteur⸱e
ID Serval
serval:BIB_FC251E905727
Type
Article: article d'un périodique ou d'un magazine.
Collection
Publications
Titre
Wound treatment and selective help in a termite-hunting ant
Périodique
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
Auteur⸱e⸱s
Frank Erik T., Wehrhahn Marten, Linsenmair K. Eduard
ISSN
0962-8452
1471-2954
Statut éditorial
Publié
Date de publication
14/02/2018
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Volume
285
Numéro
1872
Pages
20172457
Langue
anglais
Résumé
Open wounds are a major health risk in animals, with species prone to injuries likely developing means to reduce these risks. We therefore analysed the be- havioural response towards open wounds on the social and individual level in the termite group-hunting ant Megaponera analis. During termite raids, some ants get injured by termite soldiers (biting off extremities), after the fight injured ants get carried back to the nest by nest-mates. We observed treat- ment of the injury by nest-mates inside the nest through intense allogrooming at the wound. Lack of treatment increased mortality from 10% to 80% within 24 h, most likely due to infections. Wound clotting occurred extraordinarily fast in untreated injured individuals, within 10 min. Furthermore, heavily injured ants (loss of five extremities) were not rescued or treated; this was regulated not by the helper but by the unresponsiveness of the injured ant. Interestingly, lightly injured ants behaved ‘more injured’ near nest-mates. We show organized social wound treatment in insects through a multifaceted help system focused on injured individuals. This was not only limited to selective rescuing of lightly injured individuals by carrying them back (thus reducing predation risk), but, moreover, included a differentiated treatment inside the nest.
Mots-clé
General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology, General Immunology and Microbiology, General Agricultural and Biological Sciences, General Environmental Science, General Medicine
Création de la notice
14/02/2018 16:41
Dernière modification de la notice
21/08/2019 6:34
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