Ants in the tribe Attini (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) comprise about 230 described species
that share the same characteristic: all coevolved in an ancient mutualism with …

Sociality increases exposure to pathogens. Therefore, social insects have developed a wide
range of behavioural defences, known as 'social immunity'. However, the benefits of these …

Adequate waste management is vital for the success of social life, because waste
accumulation increases sanitary risks in dense societies. We explored why different leaf …

In order to decrease the risk of pathogen transmission, ants remove corpses from the vicinity
of nests, but little is known about the underlying mechanisms. In particular, it is unclear how …

The successful life of insect societies has evolved from the division of labor among more or
less specialized individuals, who carry out all necessary tasks for the maintenance and …

Terrestrial organisms need to limit evaporation from their bodies in order to maintain a
homeostatic water balance. Owing to a large surface to volume ratio, arthropods are …

Leaf-cutting ants produce large quantities of waste that harbor bacteria and fungi that are
harmful to the colony. To be protected from these pathogens, the workers of Atta species …

Animals adjust their behaviors in response to changing environmental conditions because
the costs and benefits of such behaviors change as conditions change. The reuse of …

Social organization enables leaf-cutting ants to keep appropriate micro-ecological nest
conditions for the fungus garden (their main food), eggs, larvae and adults. To maintain …

Social insects often use olfactory cues from their environment to coordinate colony tasks. We
investigated whether leaf-cutting ants use volatiles as cues to guide the deposition of their …