TY  - JOUR
A1  - Frank, Erik T.
A1  - Kesner, Lucie
A1  - Liberti, Joanito
A1  - Helleu, Quentin
A1  - LeBoeuf, Adria C.
A1  - Dascalu, Andrei
A1  - Sponsler, Douglas B.
A1  - Azuma, Fumika
A1  - Economo, Evan P.
A1  - Waridel, Patrice
A1  - Engel, Philipp
A1  - Schmitt, Thomas
A1  - Keller, Laurent
T1  - Targeted treatment of injured nestmates with antimicrobial compounds in an ant society
JF  - Nature Communications
N2  - Infected wounds pose a major mortality risk in animals. Injuries are common in the ant Megaponera analis, which raids pugnacious prey. Here we show that M. analis can determine when wounds are infected and treat them accordingly. By applying a variety of antimicrobial compounds and proteins secreted from the metapleural gland to infected wounds, workers reduce the mortality of infected individuals by 90%. Chemical analyses showed that wound infection is associated with specific changes in the cuticular hydrocarbon profile, thereby likely allowing nestmates to diagnose the infection state of injured individuals and apply the appropriate antimicrobial treatment. This study demonstrates that M. analis ant societies use antimicrobial compounds produced in the metapleural glands to treat infected wounds and reduce nestmate mortality.
KW  - animal behaviour
KW  - chemical ecology
KW  - entomology
KW  - microbial ecology
KW  - proteomics
Y1  - 2023
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-358081
VL  - 14
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Storms, Mona
A1  - Jakhar, Aryan
A1  - Mitesser, Oliver
A1  - Jechow, Andreas
A1  - Hölker, Franz
A1  - Degen, Tobias
A1  - Hovestadt, Thomas
A1  - Degen, Jacqueline
T1  - The rising moon promotes mate finding in moths
JF  - Communications Biology
N2  - To counteract insect decline, it is essential to understand the underlying causes, especially for key pollinators such as nocturnal moths whose ability to orientate can easily be influenced by ambient light conditions. These comprise natural light sources as well as artificial light, but their specific relevance for moth orientation is still unknown. We investigated the influence of moonlight on the reproductive behavior of privet hawkmoths (Sphinx ligustri) at a relatively dark site where the Milky Way was visible while the horizon was illuminated by distant light sources and skyglow. We show that male moths use the moon for orientation and reach females significantly faster with increasing moon elevation. Furthermore, the choice of flight direction depended on the cardinal position of the moon but not on the illumination of the horizon caused by artificial light, indicating that the moon plays a key role in the orientation of male moths.
KW  - animal behaviour
KW  - biodiversity
KW  - conservation biology
KW  - entomology
KW  - urban ecology
Y1  - 2022
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-301365
VL  - 5
ER  -