| 1. |
- Beye, M, et al.
(författare)
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Nestmate recognition and the genetic relatedness of nests in the ant Formica pratensis
- 1998
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Ingår i: BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY AND SOCIOBIOLOGY. - : SPRINGER VERLAG. - 0340-5443. ; 43:1, s. 67-72
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Genetic relatedness of the mound-building ant Formica pratensis was determined by means of microsatellite DNA polymorphism, and its impact on nestmate recognition was tested in a population in Southern Sweden (Oeland), Recognition between nests was measur
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| 2. |
- Reber, A, et al.
(författare)
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The expression and impact of antifungal grooming in ants.
- 2011
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Ingår i: Journal of Evolutionary Biology. - : Wiley. - 1010-061X .- 1420-9101. ; 24:5, s. 954-64
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Parasites can cause extensive damage to animal societies in which many related individuals frequently interact. In response, social animals have evolved diverse individual and collective defences. Here, we measured the expression and efficiency of self-grooming and allo-grooming when workers of the ant Formica selysi were contaminated with spores of the fungal entomopathogen Metarhizium anisopliae. The amount of self-grooming increased in the presence of fungal spores, which shows that the ants are able to detect the risk of infection. In contrast, the amount of allo-grooming did not depend on fungal contamination. Workers groomed all nestmate workers that were re-introduced into their groups. The amount of allo-grooming towards noncontaminated individuals was higher when the group had been previously exposed to the pathogen. Allo-grooming decreased the number of fungal spores on the surface of contaminated workers, but did not prevent infection in the conditions tested (high dose of spores and late allo-grooming). The rate of disease transmission to groomers and other nestmates was extremely low. The systematic allo-grooming of all individuals returning to the colony, be they contaminated or not, is probably a simple but robust prophylactic defence preventing the spread of fungal diseases in insect societies.
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| 3. |
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