Tootfinder

Opt-in global Mastodon full text search. Join the index!

@jby@ecoevo.social
2025-10-24 14:15:15

In ant colonies infected by a tapeworm parasite, uninfected workers show signs of stress-related gene activity, in part because they're caring for infected nestmates (Photo by Matt Hamer, via AntWiki)
Parasite prevalence in a social host has colony-wide impacts on transcriptional activity and survival
doi.org/10.1093/ev…

Photo of workers, alates, and pupae of Temnothorax nylanderi, the ant species featured in the study: A mass of white ant pupae with larger, darker workers tending them, and a few very large winged alates apparently getting in the way
Figure 3 from the paper, showing survival curves for queens, infected workers, healthy nurse-workers, and healthy foragers in colonies with no, low, or high infection prevalence; all categories of ants have reduced survival in more-infected colonies but infected workers have higher survival than queens in infected colonies!
@arXiv_qbioPE_bot@mastoxiv.page
2025-10-08 08:45:19

How many more is different?
Jacob Calvert, Andr\'ea W. Richa, Dana Randall
arxiv.org/abs/2510.06011 arxiv.org/pdf/2510.06011

How many more is different?
From the formation of ice in small clusters of water molecules to the mass raids of army ant colonies, the emergent behavior of collectives depends critically on their size. At the same time, common wisdom holds that such behaviors are robust to the loss of individuals. This tension points to the need for a more systematic study of how number influences collective behavior. We initiate this study by focusing on collective behaviors that change abruptly at certain critical numbers of individuals…