Cocooned ants infected with a deadly fungus call on workers to kill them to protect the colony—the first example of altruistic disease signaling in social insects.

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.

Ant colonies survive because individuals are willing to die. New research shows that some of the most vulnerable members, ...

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 ...