--- _id: '55' abstract: - lang: eng text: Many animals use antimicrobials to prevent or cure disease [1,2]. For example, some animals will ingest plants with medicinal properties, both prophylactically to prevent infection and therapeutically to self-medicate when sick. Antimicrobial substances are also used as topical disinfectants, to prevent infection, protect offspring and to sanitise their surroundings [1,2]. Social insects (ants, bees, wasps and termites) build nests in environments with a high abundance and diversity of pathogenic microorganisms — such as soil and rotting wood — and colonies are often densely crowded, creating conditions that favour disease outbreaks. Consequently, social insects have evolved collective disease defences to protect their colonies from epidemics. These traits can be seen as functionally analogous to the immune system of individual organisms [3,4]. This ‘social immunity’ utilises antimicrobials to prevent and eradicate infections, and to keep the brood and nest clean. However, these antimicrobial compounds can be harmful to the insects themselves, and it is unknown how colonies prevent collateral damage when using them. Here, we demonstrate that antimicrobial acids, produced by workers to disinfect the colony, are harmful to the delicate pupal brood stage, but that the pupae are protected from the acids by the presence of a silk cocoon. Garden ants spray their nests with an antimicrobial poison to sanitize contaminated nestmates and brood. Here, Pull et al show that they also prophylactically sanitise their colonies, and that the silk cocoon serves as a barrier to protect developing pupae, thus preventing collateral damage during nest sanitation. article_processing_charge: No article_type: original author: - first_name: Christopher full_name: Pull, Christopher id: 3C7F4840-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 last_name: Pull orcid: 0000-0003-1122-3982 - first_name: Sina full_name: Metzler, Sina id: 48204546-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 last_name: Metzler orcid: 0000-0002-9547-2494 - first_name: Elisabeth full_name: Naderlinger, Elisabeth id: 31757262-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 last_name: Naderlinger - first_name: Sylvia full_name: Cremer, Sylvia id: 2F64EC8C-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 last_name: Cremer orcid: 0000-0002-2193-3868 citation: ama: Pull C, Metzler S, Naderlinger E, Cremer S. Protection against the lethal side effects of social immunity in ants. Current Biology. 2018;28(19):R1139-R1140. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2018.08.063 apa: Pull, C., Metzler, S., Naderlinger, E., & Cremer, S. (2018). Protection against the lethal side effects of social immunity in ants. Current Biology. Cell Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2018.08.063 chicago: Pull, Christopher, Sina Metzler, Elisabeth Naderlinger, and Sylvia Cremer. “Protection against the Lethal Side Effects of Social Immunity in Ants.” Current Biology. Cell Press, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2018.08.063. ieee: C. Pull, S. Metzler, E. Naderlinger, and S. Cremer, “Protection against the lethal side effects of social immunity in ants,” Current Biology, vol. 28, no. 19. Cell Press, pp. R1139–R1140, 2018. ista: Pull C, Metzler S, Naderlinger E, Cremer S. 2018. Protection against the lethal side effects of social immunity in ants. Current Biology. 28(19), R1139–R1140. mla: Pull, Christopher, et al. “Protection against the Lethal Side Effects of Social Immunity in Ants.” Current Biology, vol. 28, no. 19, Cell Press, 2018, pp. R1139–40, doi:10.1016/j.cub.2018.08.063. short: C. Pull, S. Metzler, E. Naderlinger, S. Cremer, Current Biology 28 (2018) R1139–R1140. date_created: 2018-12-11T11:44:23Z date_published: 2018-10-08T00:00:00Z date_updated: 2023-09-15T12:06:46Z day: '08' department: - _id: SyCr doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2018.08.063 external_id: isi: - '000446693400008' intvolume: ' 28' isi: 1 issue: '19' language: - iso: eng main_file_link: - open_access: '1' url: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2018.08.063 month: '10' oa: 1 oa_version: Published Version page: R1139 - R1140 publication: Current Biology publication_status: published publisher: Cell Press publist_id: '7999' quality_controlled: '1' scopus_import: '1' status: public title: Protection against the lethal side effects of social immunity in ants type: journal_article user_id: c635000d-4b10-11ee-a964-aac5a93f6ac1 volume: 28 year: '2018' ...