Comparison of Twelve Ant Species and Their Susceptibility to Fungal Infection.

Nick Bos,Dimitri Stucki,Liselotte Sundström,Viljami Kankaanpää-Kukkonen,Dalial Freitak

doi:10.3390/insects10090271

Nick Bos, Dimitri Stucki + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/insects10090271

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Abstract

Eusocial insects, such as ants, have access to complex disease defenses both at the individual, and at the colony level. However, different species may be exposed to different diseases, and/or deploy different methods of coping with disease. Here, we studied and compared survival after fungal exposure in 12 species of ants, all of which inhabit similar habitats. We exposed the ants to two entomopathogenic fungi (Beauveria bassiana and Metarhizium brunneum), and measured how exposure to these fungi influenced survival. We furthermore recorded hygienic behaviors, such as autogrooming, allogrooming and trophallaxis, during the days after exposure. We found strong differences in autogrooming behavior between the species, but none of the study species performed extensive allogrooming or trophallaxis under the experimental conditions. Furthermore, we discuss the possible importance of the metapleural gland, and how the secondary loss of this gland in the genus Camponotus could favor a stronger behavioral response against pathogen threats.

Highlights

IntroductionThe underground environment in which they live is home to a diverse community of microbes [2]; ants get exposed to a plethora of potential pathogens present in and on the soil
Ants are ubiquitous in most terrestrial environments [1]
To better understand variability between ant species in their susceptibility to pathogens, as well as how different pathogens affect the ant species, we investigated how two opportunistic pathogenic fungi (Beauveria bassiana and Metarhizium brunneum) affect the survival and behavior of twelve ant species from four different genera

Summary

Introduction

The underground environment in which they live is home to a diverse community of microbes [2]; ants get exposed to a plethora of potential pathogens present in and on the soil These pathogens can pose a problem when brought inside the nest, as the dense population inside a nest increases the chance of the rapid spread of parasites and disease, a risk that may be aggravated by the high relatedness among individuals within colonies [3,4,5,6]. To cope with the challenges an increased pathogen pressure poses, ants employ a variety of strategies to prevent infections from becoming established These range from individual behavioral and physiological responses, to collective behaviors that convey disease control, referred to as “social immunity” [3,7,8,9,10]. The metapleural gland can be considered part of an individual’s immune system, whereby an individual can spread the acidic secretions over its cuticle, and so contain an infection [16]

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