Queen ants and naked mole-rats might live forever not because of special genes, but simply because they keep their houses obsessively clean.
April 13, 2026
Original Paper
Social immunity as a driver of life-history evolution in eusocial species
bioRxiv · 10.64898/2026.04.09.717360
The Takeaway
This study shows that the massive lifespan difference between queens and workers is driven by germs. In clean environments, everyone stays young, but in germ-heavy areas, evolution favors shorter-lived workers to protect the colony.
From the abstract
Eusociality is accompanied by puzzling lifespan phenotypes that challenge classic theories of aging. In eusocial species, breeders age more slowly than non-breeders while sharing the same genomes. A notable exception is the naked mole-rat, in which all castes show negligible actuarial senescence. We explain both patterns with a single epidemiological model. Chronic parasites that reduce worker productivity can drive the evolution of shorter lifespan in workers, but not in queens. A genetic progr