Figure 1–Source DataAll observational and experimantal data associated with Figure 1 (including Figure Supplements) that characterise destructive disinfection behaviour in the ant Lasius neglectus in response to pupae infected with the fungal pathogen Metarhizium brunneum.Figure 2–Source Data for resubmissionAll data from chemical and behavioural experiments associated with Figure 2 (including Figure Supplements) showing that ants use chemical cues to detect infections. Includes GC-MS data that quantitatively and qualitatively describe the cuticular chemical profiles of Lasius neglectus ant pupae exposed and infected with the fungal pathogen Metarhizium brunneum, compared to non-infected pupae. This new filed is updated to include the data associated with Figure 2-figure supplement 3-4.Figure 2–Source Data.xlsxFigure 3–Source DataAll data from behavioural and in vitro experiments associated with Figure 3 (including Figure Supplements) showing that Lasius neglectus ants performing destructive disinfection inhibit the growth of Metarhizium brunneum infections of pupae.Figure 4–Source DataAll data from behavioural experiments associated with Figure 4 that show destructive disinfection behaviour in the ant Lasius neglectus prevents infections of the fungal pathogen Metarhizium brunneum transmitting from sick pupae to new hosts.Source data 5Data arising from experiments showing that destructive disinfection occurs in both an additional Lasius neglectus ant supercolony and a congeneric ant species, Lasius niger, when pupae are exposed to the fungal pathogen Metarhizium brunneum or treated with a sham control.

In social groups, infections have the potential to spread rapidly and cause disease outbreaks. Here, we show that in a social insect, the ant Lasius neglectus, the negative consequences of fungal infections (Metarhizium brunneum) can be mitigated by employing an efficient multicomponent behaviour, termed destructive disinfection, which prevents further spread of the disease through the colony. Ants specifically target infected pupae during the pathogen’s non-contagious incubation period, utilising chemical ‘sickness cues’ emitted by pupae. They then remove the pupal cocoon, perforate its cuticle and administer antimicrobial poison, which enters the body and prevents pathogen replication from the inside out. Like the immune system of a metazoan body that specifically targets and eliminates infected cells, ants destroy infected brood to stop the pathogen completing its lifecycle, thus protecting the rest of the colony. Hence, in an analogous fashion, the same principles of disease defence apply at different levels of biological organisation.