An Infected terminally ill worker Ant pupa Sends disinfect me Signal to Colony Workers, but the disinfectant also kills the pupa

Amazing stuff!

"Adult ants that have been infected with deadly pathogens often leave the colony to die so as not to infect others. But, “like infected cells in tissue, [young ants] are largely immobile and lack this option,” said ... a researcher ... who studies how social insects such as ants fight diseases collectively as superorganisms, in a statement. ..."

"Ant colonies operate as tightly coordinated “superorganisms” with individual ants working together, much like the cells of a body, to ensure colony health. Researchers ... have now discovered that terminally ill ant brood, like infected cells in a body, release an odor signaling their impending death and the risk they pose. This sophisticated early warning system facilitates rapid detection and removal of pathogenic infections. ...

Upon receiving the signal, worker ants respond swiftly by unpacking the terminally ill pupae from their cocoon, creating small openings in their body surface and applying their antimicrobial poison, formic acid, which functions as a self-produced disinfectant. While this treatment immediately kills the pathogens multiplying inside the pupa, it also results in the pupa’s own demise. ..."

From the abstract:

"Sick individuals often conceal their disease status to group members, thereby preventing social exclusion or aggression. Here we show by behavioural, chemical, immunological and infection load analyses that sick ant pupae instead actively emit a chemical signal that in itself is sufficient to trigger their own destruction by colony members.

In our experiments, this altruistic disease-signalling was performed only by worker but not queen pupae. The lack of signalling by queen pupae did not constitute cheating behaviour, but reflected their superior immune capabilities. Worker pupae suffered from extensive pathogen replication whereas queen pupae were able to restrain their infection.
Our data suggest the evolution of a finely-tuned signalling system in which it is not the induction of an individual’s immune response, but rather its failure to overcome the infection, that triggers pupal signalling for sacrifice. This demonstrates a balanced interplay between individual and social immunity that efficiently achieves whole-colony health."

Sick, Immobile Young Ants Send “Kill Me” Signal to Colony Workers | The Scientist "Cocooned ants infected with a deadly fungus call on workers to kill them to protect the colony—the first example of altruistic disease signaling in social insects."

Ants Signal Deadly Infection (original news release) "Early disease detection in the colony: Ants signal incurable sickness to save others"

Altruistic disease signalling in ant colonies (open access)

Thousands of years ago bees burrowed into bones of rodents left over by predators

Amazing stuff, but bizarre!

"Thousands of years ago on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, a family of giant prehistoric owls feasted on chunky rodents known as hutias, regurgitating the bones onto the floor of their cave. These grisly leftovers, scientists report in a new study, turned out to be prime real estate for bees.

When researchers excavated Cueva de Mono, a tarantula-infested cave in what is now the southern Dominican Republic, they often found thousands of fossilized skulls and other bones belonging to an extinct species of hutia. Some of the rodent jawbones had smooth, cup-shaped structures lodged in the tooth sockets. These strange deposits bore a striking resemblance to the nests of modern bees, and some even contained grains of ancient pollen. The finding, a paleontological first ..."

From the abstract:

"Bees (Anthophila) are well known for their species and remarkable behavioural diversity, ranging from solitary taxa that nest in burrows to eusocial species that construct highly compartmentalized nests. This nesting variation is partially documented in the fossil record through ichnofossils dating from the Cretaceous to the Holocene.

Here, we report a novel nesting behaviour based on ichnofossils recovered from a late Quaternary cave deposit in Hispaniola. Isolated brood cells, described here as Osnidum almontei ichnogen. et ichnosp. nov., were found inside cavities of vertebrate remains, including mandibular alveoli, pulp chamber and vertebral canal of mammals.
Cell size, morphology and smooth inner walls indicate that the tracemaker was a medium-sized burrowing bee likely from the family Halictidae. Micro-computed tomography scans of the host bones show multi-generational use of the same cavity, suggesting repeated use and some degree of nest fidelity.
Similarly, the high abundance of nests throughout the deposit indicated that this cave was used for a long period as a nesting aggregation area by this solitary bee. The use of vertebrate remains in cave soils represents a poorly documented behaviour in modern bees and may reflect the scarcity of suitable soil substrates in a karstic landscape dominated by denuded limestone."

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Ancient Bees Burrowed Inside Bones, Fossils Reveal "Bones of now extinct species became a haven for bee babies thousands of years ago, scientists report in a first-of-its-kind discovery"

Trace fossils within mammal remains reveal novel bee nesting behaviour (open access)

Fig. 1 (a) Map of cave locality in the Dominican Republic. Purple diamond represents Cueva de Mono.
(b) Photograph of heavily vegetated landscape outside Cueva de Mono.
(c) Photograph of active excavation of Cueva de Mono sediment.
(d) Photograph of entrance to Cueva de Mono.

Fig. 3 CT scan and photograph images of left dentary of Plagiodontia araeum ... and type specimen of the ichnofossil Osnidum almontei.
(a–b) Dentary in occlusal view.
(a) Photograph.
(b) CT scan.
(c) Cross-section view in anterior view from CT scan, highlighting ichnofossil cells with white arrows.
(d) Cross-section view in lateral view from CT scan.
(e) Cross-section view in occlusal view from CT scan.
(f–h) Dentary in lingual view.
(f) Photograph.
(g) Non-transparent view from CT scan.
(h) Transparent view from CT scan, highlighting ichnofossil cell in tan.
(i) Isolated infilling of ichnofossil cell, white lines = maximum cell height and width.
(j) Isolated aperture opening of ichnofossil cell, white line = maximum aperture width.

Secrets of the naked mole-rat: New study reveals how their unique metabolism protects them from heart attacks

Amazing stuff!

"... New research ... has revealed that the genome of the naked mole-rat contains specific adaptations that allow them to survive in low-oxygen and even no oxygen environments in their natural habitat. The findings ... also show the mammals' distinct cardiometabolic profile helps to avoid damage to their hearts caused by cardiovascular events. ...

In this study, they found that the naked mole-rat has a unique expression of genes in heart cells controlling energy generation from sugars resulting in a metabolic profile that is distinct from any of the other mole-rats as well as the other species studied. These unique cardiac metabolic and genetic features of the naked mole-rat heart led to enhanced energy reserves even during blood occlusion and return of blood flow after in vitro simulated heart attack. ..."

From the abstract:

"The naked mole-rat Heterocephalus glaber is a eusocial mammal exhibiting extreme longevity (37-year lifespan), extraordinary resistance to hypoxia and absence of cardiovascular disease. To identify the mechanisms behind these exceptional traits, metabolomics and RNAseq of cardiac tissue from naked mole-rats was compared to other African mole-rat genera (Cape, Cape dune, Common, Natal, Mahali, Highveld and Damaraland mole-rats) and evolutionarily divergent mammals (Hottentot golden mole and C57/BL6 mouse). We identify metabolic and genetic adaptations unique to naked mole-rats including elevated glycogen, thus enabling glycolytic ATP generation during cardiac ischemia. Elevated normoxic expression of HIF-1α is observed while downstream hypoxia responsive-genes are down-regulated, suggesting adaptation to low oxygen environments. Naked mole-rat hearts show reduced succinate levels during ischemia compared to C57/BL6 mouse and negligible tissue damage following ischemia-reperfusion injury. These evolutionary traits reflect adaptation to a unique hypoxic and eusocial lifestyle that collectively may contribute to their longevity and health span."

Secrets of the naked mole-rat: New study reveals how their unique metabolism protects them from heart attacks

Secrets of the naked mole-rat: new study reveals how their unique metabolism protects them from heart attacks (original news release) This unusual, subterranean mammal with extreme longevity shows genetic adaptations to low oxygen environments which could offer opportunities for advancing other areas of physiological and medical research in humans. 

Naked mole-rats have distinctive cardiometabolic and genetic adaptations to their underground low-oxygen lifestyles (open access)

Fig. 1: Phylogenetic relationships and social status of African mole-rats, the mouse and the hottentot golden mole.

Fig. 2: Naked mole-rats exhibit distinct cardiac gene profile expression unrelated to any of the other subterranean genera highlighting genetic adaptations at the mitochondrial level.

Fig. 4: Enhanced cardiac energy reserve is unique to naked mole-rat.

EUsociality - The Highest Level Of Social Organization

Common To Ants, Bees, And Termites

I stumbled upon this term eusociality today (3/2/2013) on Wikipedia which is defined as “a term used for the highest level of social organization in a hierarchical classification. Eusociality is characterized by cooperative brood care, overlapping adult generations and division of labor by reproductive and (partially) non-reproductive groups.”.

Just A Pure Coincidence

The EU (European Union) is some kind of sociality or is it? Given its top down, statist, centralist, and elitist approach a comparison with an ant colony is not so far from the point.