ANIMAL NEWS - 

 

Animals medicate themselves and their kin

 

 

Jane Goodall observed chimpanzees medicating themselves with special leaves to alleviate their digestive discomfort. Now we have to add ants and fruit flies to the list of medicating animals. 
 

Other animals medicate their offspring or other kin. Wood ants incorporate an antimicrobial resin from conifer trees into their nests, preventing microbial growth in the colony.
 

Parasite-infected monarch butterflies protect their offspring against high levels of parasite growth by laying their eggs on anti-parasitic milkweed. 
 

When gypsy moth caterpillars consume foliage high in certain toxic compounds, transmission of viruses between the caterpillars is reduced, facilitating moth outbreaks.
 

Honeybees add antimicrobial resins into their nests to compensate for an immune system less richer than that of other insects.
 

Read more: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/04/130411142716.htm