#Socialinsect #nests are #ecosystems with a #diversity of #organisms.
In #leafcutterant #Atta #texana nests, mite #Histiostoma #bakeri reduces harmful #fungi in detritus chambers (S.F. Wirth & J.C. Moser 2008).
A. Panchal et al. (2025) found #termite #Odontotermes #obesus to reduce harmful fungi from its food #funguscultivar using fungicides of #bacteria.

©#StefanFWirth

Ref
(2008)
Proceed. 6th EURAAC

(2025)
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adr2713

pic
O. obesus, Nikhil More, 2020,
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en

@JohnCarlson They're such beautiful wasps.

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/121614448

#Polistes #PaperWasp #SocialInsect #Wasp #Hymenoptera #iNaturalist

The regulation of division of labour in social insects is poorly understood. One can still find, in many textbooks, old models about "age polyethism". Here is a nice experimental work in which the behaviour of #ant workers were continuously tracked for 5 months. The transition between nurse to forager tasks is largely age independent. #science #biology #socialinsect #hymenoptera #insect #animalbehaviour #socialnetwork
📄 Richardson et al. (2021) Current Biology 0 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2020.05.038