Researchers at Rockefeller University have discovered that ant pupae secrete a liquid
Ants, like other insects with a complete stagetransformations, go through four stages of "growing up": egg, larva, pupa and imago (adult). To explore the social interactions between different groups in the colony, the researchers isolated them from each other and studied the effects of such separation.
Isolated incubation of pupae (a) fornine days before the transition to the adult stage and a drop of accumulated secretion on the pupa (b). Fluid excretion began about six days before hatching. Image: Orli Snir et al., Nature
The first thing scientists discovered was a liquidwhich accumulated around isolated pupae. Insects do not normally excrete fluid during the pupal stage, and ants have not previously seen it either. This fluid was prone to fungal infections that eventually killed the pupae. Only when the scientists manually removed the fluid did the pupae survive and progress to the adult stage.
Ant colony of the species Ooceraea biroi with workers,pupae and young larvae. The worker ants place the young larvae on the pupae, where they feed on the excreted secretion. In addition, it can be seen how the adult ants themselves “attach” their mouths to the secretion area for a long time. Video: Orli Snir et al., Nature
To understand where the fluid goes in naturalenvironment, the researchers marked it with a special dye. It turned out that adults and larvae drink it as they are excreted. The researchers found that the fluid is produced by a conserved process common to all insects called molting, in which the insects shed their old cuticle to grow. While non-social insects recycle the molting fluid to retain nutrients, ant pupae "share" it with their anthill mates.
The first few days after hatchingпитаются жидкостью почти так же, как новорожденный питается молоком. Взрослые также жадно пьют его, и, хотя неясно, что он делает со взрослыми, мы уверены, что он влияет на обмен веществ и физиологию.
Daniel Cronauer, associate professor at Rockefeller University and co-author of the study
Scientists believe that the pupal fluid is onefrom the central connecting links, which turns the ant colony into a superorganism that functions as a whole. Researchers will continue to study the effect of this molting fluid on the inner workings of the colony.
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On the cover:an ant colony of the species Ooceraea biroi with workers, pupae and young larvae. The worker ants place the young larvae on the pupae, where they feed on the excreted secretion. Image: Daniel Kronauer, Rockefeller University