ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
In this transgenic ant pupa surrounded by wild type pupae, expression of red fluorescent protein shows throughout the ant pupa body.
Spying on Transgenic Ants Reveals How Their Brains Respond to Alarm Odors
By successfully creating transgenic ants for the first time, researchers discovered that danger-signaling pheromones activate a sensory hub in the ants’ brains.
Spying on Transgenic Ants Reveals How Their Brains Respond to Alarm Odors
Spying on Transgenic Ants Reveals How Their Brains Respond to Alarm Odors

By successfully creating transgenic ants for the first time, researchers discovered that danger-signaling pheromones activate a sensory hub in the ants’ brains.

By successfully creating transgenic ants for the first time, researchers discovered that danger-signaling pheromones activate a sensory hub in the ants’ brains.

eusocial insects

Brown-red ants climb over a pile of white translucent larvae and orange pupae. Some use their mandibles to position the larvae.
Ant Pupae Feed Adults, Larvae with Secreted Liquid 
Viviane Callier | Nov 30, 2022 | 4 min read
The molting fluid of ant pupae functions as “metabolic currency” in the ant colony and may have enabled the evolution of eusociality. 
A photo of a termite’s head with its brain clearly visible
Termite Brains Anticipate Future Visual Challenges
Chloe Tenn | Feb 1, 2022 | 2 min read
Dampwood termites with the potential to leave the colony have larger optic lobes before ever being exposed to different visual environments, an example of predictive brain plasticity.
A black and brown ant stands over various sizes of whitish purple, oval shaped larvae and yellow, oblong eggs
A Single Transcription Factor Changes Ants to Queens
Abby Olena, PhD | Nov 5, 2021 | 3 min read
The transcription factor can also drive the opposite transition depending on which hormone activates it, according to a new study.
Infected Ants Chemically Attract Workers to Destroy Them
Jim Daley | Apr 1, 2018 | 4 min read
Social insects kill infected individuals for the benefit of the colony—and now a study has shown how they know who’s sick.
Researchers Grow “Frankenstein Ants” to Study Epigenetics
Jeffrey M. Perkel | Oct 1, 2016 | 4 min read
A molecular biologist ventures into entomology to use genetically modified ants as laboratory models of behavioral epigenetics.
Epigenetic Alterations Determine Ant Behavior
Bob Grant | Jan 4, 2016 | 1 min read
Histone modifications to the DNA of Florida carpenter ants can turn soldiers into foragers.
Performance Art
Mary Beth Aberlin | Jan 1, 2015 | 3 min read
Regulation of genome expression orchestrates the behavior of insect castes and the human response to social stress.
Contributors
Molly Sharlach | Jan 1, 2015 | 3 min read
Meet some of the people featured in the January 2015 issue of The Scientist.
The Genetics of Society
Claire Asher and Seirian Sumner | Jan 1, 2015 | 10 min read
Researchers aim to unravel the molecular mechanisms by which a single genotype gives rise to diverse castes in eusocial organisms.
ADVERTISEMENT