Abstract: Traditional Ant Colony Optimization (T-ACO) algorithms often face challenges in dynamic environments, particularly the tendency to become trapped in local minima, resulting in suboptimal ...

Ants coordinate highly complex foraging and traffic systems without any leaders, relying entirely on local interactions and chemical cues. Pheromone trails encode information about distance, food ...

Move over, Game of Thrones—ants can turn armies against their leaders and use subterfuge to take over entire kingdoms, too. This chilling discovery did not originate with a professional scientist, but ...

The behavior prevents fungal pathogens from spreading through the colony Researchers call it "altruistic disease signaling" that protects the ant superorganism In a rare example of biological altruism ...

Scientists describe the behavior as "altruistic signalling," a form of social immunity in eusocial insects Getty A new research study finds infected ant pupae emit a chemical signal that prompts ...

"By warning the colony of their deadly infection, terminally ill ants help the colony remain healthy and produce daughter colonies, which indirectly pass on the signaler’s genes to the next generation ...

Illness usually brings trouble in the animal world. A weak member may be pushed aside, attacked, or left behind. Many animals go to great lengths to hide sickness. But for creatures bound by family, ...

Ant pupae that are fatally sick don’t hide their condition; instead, they release a special scent that warns the rest of the colony. This signal prompts worker ants to open the pupae’s cocoons and ...

Sick young ants release a smell to tell worker ants to destroy them to protect the colony from infection, scientists said Tuesday, adding that queens do not seem to commit this act of self-sacrifice.

Sick young ants release a smell to tell worker ants to destroy them to protect the colony from infection, scientists said Tuesday, adding that queens do not seem to commit this act of self-sacrifice.

New research shows that terminally ill baby ants tell other ants to kill them, potentially protecting the rest of the colony from their infection. In a study published today in the journal Nature ...