The Ancient Chemistry of Avoiding Risks of Predation and Disease

Illness, death, and costs of immunity and injury strongly select for avoidance of predators or contagion. Ants, cockroaches, and collembola recognize their dead using unsaturated fatty acids (e.g., oleic or linoleic acid) as “necromone” cues. Ants, bees, and termites remove dead from their nests (necrophoric behavior) whereas semi-social species seal off corpses or simply avoid their dead or injured (necrophobic behavior). Alarm and avoidance …