Word for the day: Necrophoresis

Corpse-ridding behavior, or necrophoresis, is common to many ants and other social insects, and helps maintain good sanitation in the colony...

The prevailing theory of necrophoresis had been that ants were responding to fatty acids and other chemical cues from the decomposing corpse. But the researchers noticed that ants would haul a corpse away within an hour after death — before much decomposition began...

The researchers say other chemicals that stimulate the corpse-hauling behavior are always present on the ants, but they are masked or repressed by the two “life” compounds. Once the ant dies and the masking compounds dissipate, these “death” chemicals set off the behavior....