TERMITES have devised an ingenious public health programme. By vaccinating their nest mates against infection, they prevent potentially devastating diseases destroying the colony, entomologists have discovered. This group immunity could be one reason why social insects are so successful.
Many social insects such as bees, wasps and ants cooperate to keep parasites at bay. Ants, for example, shift dead workers out of their colonies to prevent disease spreading (Â鶹´«Ã½, 24 November 2001, p 19), and bees get together to warm up parts of the hive infected with a fungal epidemic. This “colony fever” helps kill off the parasite.
Now…
