A research article from Dr. Shu-Ping Tsen's lab at the Department, has been awarded the 2024 Best Paper Award by Myrmecological News.
Dolichoderus thoracicus is a common pest in both agricultural and residential settings. The paper reports that, unlike most ants, it does not exhibit the typical mouth-to-mouth food-sharing behavior known as stomodeal trophallaxis. Instead, the colony distributes nutrients through trophic eggs - non-reproductive eggs produced by workers and queens that serve as food for nestmates. This discovery has important implications for pest control, as the absence of trophallaxis may limit the effectiveness of bait-based strategies that depend on food sharing. The study underscores the need to develop alternative management approaches for species with such atypical nutrient-transfer behaviors.