Data and code for: a behavioural and microbiological study of wound care in Camponotus floridanus

Open wounds pose a major infection and mortality risk in animals. To
reduce these risks, many animal species apply antimicrobial compounds on
their wounds. Ant societies use antimicrobial secretions from the
metapleural gland to combat pathogens but this gland has been
lost over evolutionary time in several genera including Camponotus. Using
behavioral and microbiological experiments, we studied how Camponotus
floridanus handles infected wounds without the use of antimicrobial
secretions. When we experimentally injured a worker’s leg at the femur,
nestmates amputated the injured limb by biting the base (trochanter) of
the leg until it was severed, thereby significantly increasing survival
compared to ants that did not receive amputations. However, when the
experimental injury was more distal (at the tibia), nestmates did not
amputate the leg and instead directed more wound care to the injury site.
Experimental amputations also failed to improve survival in ants with
infected tibia injuries unless the leg was amputated immediately after
pathogen exposure. Micro CT-scans revealed that the muscles likely
responsible for leg hemolymph circulation are predominantly in the femur.
Thus, it is likely that femur injuries, by attenuating hemolymph flow,
provide sufficient time for workers to perform amputations before pathogen
spread. Overall, this study provides the first example of the use of
amputations to treat infected individuals in a non-human animal and
demonstrates that ants can adapt their type of treatment depending on the
location of wounds.