Co-founding ant queens prevent disease by performing prophylactic undertaking behaviour
Abstract Background Social insects form densely crowded societies in environments with high pathogen loads, but have evolved collective defences that mitigate the impact of disease. However, colony-founding queens lack this protection and suffer high rates of mortality. The impact of pathogens may b...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
BMC
2017-10-01
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| Series: | BMC Evolutionary Biology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12862-017-1062-4 |