Behavioural individuality determines infection risk in clonal ant colonies

Zimai Li, Bhoomika Bhat, Erik T. Frank, Thalita Oliveira-Honorato, Fumika Azuma, Valérie Bachmann, Darren J. Parker, Thomas Schmitt, Evan P. Economo and Yuko Ulrich ()
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Zimai Li: Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology
Bhoomika Bhat: Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology
Erik T. Frank: Biocentre, University of Würzburg
Thalita Oliveira-Honorato: University of Lausanne
Fumika Azuma: Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University
Valérie Bachmann: ETH Zürich
Darren J. Parker: Bangor University
Thomas Schmitt: Biocentre, University of Würzburg
Evan P. Economo: Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University
Yuko Ulrich: Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology

Nature Communications, 2023, vol. 14, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract In social groups, infection risk is not distributed evenly across individuals. Individual behaviour is a key source of variation in infection risk, yet its effects are difficult to separate from other factors (e.g., age). Here, we combine epidemiological experiments with chemical, transcriptomic, and automated behavioural analyses in clonal ant colonies, where behavioural individuality emerges among identical workers. We find that: (1) Caenorhabditis-related nematodes parasitise ant heads and affect their survival and physiology, (2) differences in infection emerge from behavioural variation alone, and reflect spatially-organised division of labour, (3) infections affect colony social organisation by causing infected workers to stay in the nest. By disproportionately infecting some workers and shifting their spatial distribution, infections reduce division of labour and increase spatial overlap between hosts, which should facilitate parasite transmission. Thus, division of labour, a defining feature of societies, not only shapes infection risk and distribution but is also modulated by parasites.

Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-40983-7

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