What is it about?
Oxidant pollutants like ozone and nitric oxides are increasing due to the Anthropocene. We show that ozone can degrade some of the compounds that ants use as colony specific signals for nest mate recognition. Ants foraging in polluted places face the problem that when returning to their nest their own odor has changed and they become attacked by their nestmates.
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Why is it important?
Ants play a crucial role in ecosystems regarding e.g. seed dispersal and pest control. The social structure in an ant colony is very complex with different ants fulfilling different tasks. If this structure becomes corrupted, when e.g. ozone exposed ants that return with food always become attacked, the efficiency of the colony drops. On a long term we might lose the ecosystem services provided by ants. Oxidant pollutants like ozone are known for the detrimental effects on human health. However, we should be aware that they can cause in addition dramatic problems in ecosystems.
Perspectives
The process of this study was a quite weird experience. It is always rewarding when experiments succeed and result in very interesting and rewarding results. In our case the experiments turned out "nicely" but the results were at the same time worrying.
Markus Knaden
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Oxidizing pollutants can disrupt nestmate recognition in ants, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, February 2026, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2520139123.
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