With the recent surge of interest in ageing, the report by Keller and Genoud showing that the type of social structure in ant and termite colonies determines longevity should be welcome news. In ant colonies with one egg-laying queen, the queen has a long lifespan; whereas in those colonies with many queens (which move frequently and so encounter more predators), the queens have shorter lifespans. Although intriguing, it is doubtful that this finding will translate into longer lifespans for humans, because many factors are probably involved in determining longevity.
