1704679691
This will also interest you
[EN VIDÉO] Stop squashing the ants, they are planting wildflowers! Did you know that ants are essential for the proper functioning of the ecosystem? Discover your talent…
Fights between termites and Matabele ants (Megaponera analyst) can be bloody. It is not uncommon for some ants to come back injured. It is also not uncommon for their wounds to become infected. But researchers from the Julius Maximilians University from Würzburg (Germany) and the University of Lausanne (Switzerland) report in the magazine today Nature communication that survival rates remain high thanks to an amazing strategy employed by these funny ants.
Ants capable of sophisticated medical treatments
The researchers observed how ants selectively treated the infected wounds of their fellow ants. You recognize them by chemical markers that are present in your body and evolve with the infection. Then they treat her with antibiotics and medicine secreted by a gland on the side of her chest. Enough to reduce the mortality rate of injured ants by 90%.
Unprecedented behavior in nature?
“Aside from humans, I don’t know of any other living being that would be able to carry out such sophisticated medical treatments.”, explains Erik Frank, researcher, in a press release. But he still plans to test this by studying the behavior of other types of social animals. Work is also planned to study the antibiotics used by Matabele ants. Since the main pathogen of ant wounds, Pseudomonas aeruginosais also a major cause of infection in humans, as several strains are resistant to our own antibiotics.
#ants #treat #injured #sophisticated #medical #treatments