Thumbnails:
List:
Year:
Category:
Session:
Poster:
Getting poster data...
Tatjana Hirschmugl (Freelance Scientific Illustrator)
Social insects are an ideal system to study the potential role of social network plasticity in disease defense. Ants are among the four species that evolved to live under obligatory eusociality; a system in which the different morphological and/or behavioral castes of a superorganism exert highly specified functions and coordinate their actions comparable to the cells of an organism’s body. As we human beings had to experience over the last 12 months, living under crowded conditions accelerates the spread of infectious diseases. In order to prevent major pathogen threats, ants exhibit multi-step collective defense strategies as part of a ‘social immunity’ concept. Some of their disease-curbing practices have become familiar to us as well: (allo-)grooming prior to entering home (equals handwashing), application of formic acid - a disinfectant - or providing restricted access to high-traffic areas (like social distancing). This fascinating behavior effectively reduces pathogen load, host susceptibility and disease transmission. The infographic depicts literature research I have done, whereas I was not involved in any project personally.