[HN Gopher] Ant queens cannibalise infected brood to limit disea...
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       Ant queens cannibalise infected brood to limit disease spread,
       recycle nutrients
        
       Author : rntn
       Score  : 28 points
       Date   : 2024-03-23 19:37 UTC (3 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.researchgate.net)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.researchgate.net)
        
       | standardUser wrote:
       | Devouring the infected for the good of the brood is pretty
       | freaking metal.
       | 
       | But how is the queen able to survive the constant influx of
       | disease?
        
         | kevingadd wrote:
         | The abstract doesn't say, but my guess would be that a mature
         | queen has a more functional immune system than larvae/eggs do.
        
           | Terr_ wrote:
           | Also the digestive process is necessarily destructive to
           | whatever is being eaten, and may kill many would-be
           | infectious organisms that haven't evolved to resist or
           | exploit that route.
        
         | devin wrote:
         | From the article:
         | 
         | > Ant queens may minimise their risk of contracting infections
         | via cannibalism by swallowing their acidic, antimicrobial
         | venom, to create a gut environment that neutralises pathogens,
         | as reported in workers [6]. Indeed, we anecdotally observed
         | queens grooming the abdominal venom gland opening.
        
       | makerdiety wrote:
       | Waste not, want not.
        
       | javajosh wrote:
       | "Doctor, what's wrong with me. My children smell...delicious."
       | "Nothing. We'll test them for chickenpox."
        
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       (page generated 2024-03-23 23:01 UTC)