Microbial associates and social behavior in ants

Abstract

Current research in life sciences provides advances on how animal-associated microbes affect behavior and its underlying neurophysiology. However, studies in this field are often limited to individuals outside of their social context and neglect social dynamics. Contrarily, animals and humans develop and live in complex societies where they constantly adjust physiology and behavior to social interactions. To improve our understanding of how microbes and hosts interact and produce phenotypes at social and group levels, we need to broaden our experimental approaches to a group-level dimension. Here, we point out that eusocial insects, and ants in particular, are ideal models for this purpose. We first examine the most common types of microorganismal associations that ants engage in, and then briefly summarize what is known about the role of symbiotic microbes in ant social behavior. Finally, we propose future directions in the field, in the light of recent technical advances in behavior measuring techniques.