New paper in Behavioral Ecology!

Filip Turza with co-authors just published a paper in Behavioral Ecology. This new study found that ants with longer-lived individuals are significantly more likely to show rescue behavior, aiding trapped colony members. This link between life expectancy and helpfulness suggests that living longer may foster pro-social behaviors essential for colony success. Similar to findings in social mammals, these results emphasize that life expectancy can shape altruistic actions in animals.

Photos: Filip Turza. Examples of ants utilized in the study. Dolichoderus quadripunctatus (top left), Formica sanguinea (top right), Lasius emarginatus (middle left), Myrmica rubra (middle right), Manica rubida (bottom left), and Lasius brunneus (bottom right) in natural habitats or after transportation to the laboratory.

In this massive effort, over 3000 individuals from several species were used to assess worker lifespan, and almost 300 hours of behavioral tests were analyzed to characterize their helpfulness. Analyses were also run to check for phylogenetic signals in the lifespan and helpfulness of the studied species.

The study is published in the journal Behavioral Ecology (open access). Congratulations to Filip for completing this work!