Social Vaccination in Ant Colonies: from Individual Mechanisms to Society Effects

Fungal disease dynamics in insect societies: Optimal killing rates and the ambivalent effect of high social interaction rates
S. Novak, S. Cremer, Journal of Theoretical Biology 372 (2015) 54–64.

Ants avoid superinfections by performing risk-adjusted sanitary care
M. Konrad, C. Pull, S. Metzler, K. Seif, E. Naderlinger, A.V. Grasse, S. Cremer, PNAS 115 (2018) 2782–2787.

Social network plasticity decreases disease transmission in a eusocial insect
N. Stroeymeyt, A.V. Grasse, A. Crespi, D. Mersch, S. Cremer, L. Keller, Science 362 (2018) 941–945.

Co-founding ant queens prevent disease by performing prophylactic undertaking behaviour
C. Pull, S. Cremer, BMC Evolutionary Biology 17 (2017).

Destructive disinfection of infected brood prevents systemic disease spread in ant colonies
C. Pull, L.V. Ugelvig, F. Wiesenhofer, A.V. Grasse, S. Tragust, T. Schmitt, M. Brown, S. Cremer, ELife 7 (2018).

Opposing effects of allogrooming on disease transmission in ant societies
F. Theis, L.V. Ugelvig, C. Marr, S. Cremer, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences 370 (2015).

Social transfer of pathogenic fungus promotes active immunisation in ant colonies
M. Konrad, M. Vyleta, F. Theis, M. Stock, S. Tragust, M. Klatt, V. Drescher, C. Marr, L.V. Ugelvig, S. Cremer, PLoS Biology 10 (2012).

Ants disinfect fungus-exposed brood by oral uptake and spread of their poison
S. Tragust, B. Mitteregger, V. Barone, M. Konrad, L.V. Ugelvig, S. Cremer, Current Biology 23 (2013) 76–82.

Anti-pathogen protection versus survival costs mediated by an ectosymbiont in an ant host
M. Konrad, A.V. Grasse, S. Tragust, S. Cremer, Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B Biological Sciences 282 (2015).

Increased grooming after repeated brood care provides sanitary benefits in a clonal ant
C. Westhus, L.V. Ugelvig, E. Tourdot, J. Heinze, C. Doums, S. Cremer, Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 68 (2014) 1701–1710.

Pupal cocoons affect sanitary brood care and limit fungal infections in ant colonies
S. Tragust, L.V. Ugelvig, M. Chapuisat, J. Heinze, S. Cremer, BMC Evolutionary Biology 13 (2013).

Organisational immunity in social insects
N. Stroeymeyt, B.E. Casillas Perez, S. Cremer, Current Opinion in Insect Science 5 (2014) 1–15.