Division of labor affects the risk of infection

An international research team reports that, given the same genetic makeup, individual behavior alone determines whether or not an individual in a social group will contract a disease. Clonal raider ants of the species Ooceraea biroi that forage outside the nest are more likely to be infected by parasitic nematodes than conspecifics in the nest. The research team also observed that diseases in the colony altered the behavior of all ants: sick and healthy ants alike remained in the nest and the division of labor was reduced, affecting the overall social organization in the ant colony.