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23 August 2022 Lack of Self-Medication by Fungus Infected Lasius platythorax (Formicidae, Formicinae) Ants in a Multitrophic Experiment
Jason Rissanen, Heikki Helanterä, Torsten Will, Dalial Freitak
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Abstract

In laboratory conditions, ants can combat a pathogen infection by means of the medicinal use of reactive oxygen species (ROS). However, it is still unknown where they obtain medicinal compounds in the wild and how they use them. Due to an upregulation of ROS in response to herbivory, aphid-infested plants have been suggested to be a potential source of ROS for ants in the wild. We investigated whether infection would cause Lasius platythorax ants to change their foraging on extrafloral nectar on aphid-infested plants. We found no clear evidence for the ants significantly changing their foraging behaviour in response to the pathogen, nor for the extrafloral nectar to contain ROS. The aphids in our experiment had a relatively high concentration of ROS and future research should determine whether predation on aphids could be a potential source of both protein and ROS needed to combat a disease.

© Finnish Zoological and Botanical Publishing Board
Jason Rissanen, Heikki Helanterä, Torsten Will, and Dalial Freitak "Lack of Self-Medication by Fungus Infected Lasius platythorax (Formicidae, Formicinae) Ants in a Multitrophic Experiment," Annales Zoologici Fennici 59(1), 205-213, (23 August 2022). https://doi.org/10.5735/086.059.0117
Received: 29 March 2022; Accepted: 26 July 2022; Published: 23 August 2022
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