# Velvety tree ant extract is a chemotaxis repellent for C. elegans

## TL;DR

Velvety tree ant extract repels the worm C. elegans, and this behavior involves specific neurons, as shown in a classroom-based study.

## Contribution

The study identifies osm-9 and tax-4 positive neurons as necessary for C. elegans to avoid ant extract.

## Key findings

- C. elegans avoids velvety tree ant extract.
- The avoidance behavior requires osm-9 and tax-4 positive neurons.
- Undergraduate students conducted the experiments in a classroom setting.

## Abstract

Ants use a range of compounds for interspecies interactions, but the neurogenetic mechanisms mediating these interactions are unclear. Here, we used chemotaxis assays with the nematode
Caenorhabditis elegans
to test if ant compounds can be detected by the worm nervous system and which chemosensory neurons are required for detection. We found that
C. elegans
avoid the extracts of velvety tree ants (
Liometopum occidentale
), and this response requires
osm-9
and
tax-4
positive neurons. These experiments were conducted by undergraduate students in an upper-division laboratory course, demonstrating how simple behavior assays conducted in a classroom setting can provide practical research experiences and new insights into interspecies interactions.