Prophylactic Avoidance of Hazardous Prey by the Ant Host Myrmica rubra.

ABSTRACT: Ants are the hosts of many microorganisms, including pathogens that are incidentally brought inside the nest by foragers. This is particularly true for scavenging species, which collect hazardous food such as dead insects. Foragers limit sanitary risks by not retrieving highly infectious prey releasing entomopathogenic fungal spores. This study investigates whether similar prophylactic strategies are also developed for food associated with weak or delayed risks of fungal contamination. We compared, in Myrmica rubra ant colonies, the retrieval dynamics of dead flies that were (1) conidia-free, (2) covered with a low amount of Metarhizium brunneum entomopathogenic conidia or (3) recently fungus-killed but not yet sporulating. Foragers mostly avoided fungus-killed prey and delay

SUBMITTER: Pereira H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7412340 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature