this post was submitted on 03 Dec 2025
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Young Ants Beg For Death When Sick, New Study Reveals (www.sciencealert.com)
submitted 3 weeks ago by RegularJoe@lemmy.world to c/science@lemmy.world
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[–] stelelor@lemmy.ca 36 points 3 weeks ago

I was going to make fun of the title (which is basically "Sick ants stink, the others don't like it and make it stop") but IMO this is the important bit:

Then, the team conducted an experiment showing that the sick pupae only produce the smell when worker ants are nearby, proving it is a deliberate signal for destruction.

That does go beyond just smelling bad due to illness.