Emergency measures: Adaptive response to pathogen intrusion in the ant nest

Ants have developed prophylactic and hygienic behaviours in order to limit risks of pathogenic outbreaks inside their nest, which are often called social immunity. Here, we test whether ants can adapt the “social immune response” to the level of pathogenic risk in the colony. We challenged Myrmica rubra colonies with dead nestmates that had either died from being frozen or from infection by the fungus Metarhizium anisopliae. Ant survival was compromised by the presence of the fungus-bearing corpses: workers died faster with a significantly lower survival from the 4th day compared to workers challenged with freeze-killed corpses. When faced with fungus-bearing corpses, workers responded quickly by increasing hygienic behaviours: they spent more time cleaning the nest, moving the corpses, and self-grooming. Ants in fungus-threatened colonies also decreased contact rates with other workers, and moved corpses further in the corners of the nest than in colonies in contact with non-infected corpses. These results show that ant colonies are able to assess the risk level associated with the presence of corpses in the nest, and adjust their investment in terms of hygienic behaviour.