Fire ants self-assemble into waterproof rafts to survive floods

NJ Mlot, CA Tovey, DL Hu - Proceedings of the National …, 2011 - National Acad Sciences
Why does a single fire ant Solenopsis invicta struggle in water, whereas a group can float
effortlessly for days? We use time-lapse photography to investigate how fire ants S. invicta …

The genome of the fire ant Solenopsis invicta

Y Wurm, J Wang, O Riba-Grognuz… - Proceedings of the …, 2011 - National Acad Sciences
Ants have evolved very complex societies and are key ecosystem members. Some ants,
such as the fire ant Solenopsis invicta, are also major pests. Here, we present a draft …

Hormonal gatekee** via the blood-brain barrier governs caste-specific behavior in ants

L Ju, KM Glastad, L Sheng, J Gospocic, CJ Kingwell… - Cell, 2023 - cell.com
Here, we reveal an unanticipated role of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) in regulating complex
social behavior in ants. Using scRNA-seq, we find localization in the BBB of a key hormone …