Daily Archives: May 10, 2012

A recent article by Dussutour and Simpson ( click here for the link) found that when black garden ants (Lasius niger) were fed a high protein to carbohydrate ratio in their diet, lifespan decreased by a factor of 10!! The authors emphasize this result is due to the high level of protein and not the lack of carbohydrates. This was known to occur in solitary insects, but this study demonstrates the phenomenon in a colony.