The action of cilia moves the mucus along with the bacteria out of the lung.
The mucus and gill filaments were used for the experiment.
We displaced the ants from the nectaries by gentle shaking and delicately rubbed earthworms on each nectary to apply mucus.
The ciliated epithelial cells present sweep the mucus and trapped microbes upwards to stop them entering and potentially harming the lungs.
Cystic fibrosis is a genetic disease in which abnormally thick mucus is produced in the lungs and other parts of the body.
The syndrome is characterized by irregular defecation, abdominal pain, bloating, stool mucus and fatigue.
However, after contact with the mucus, the ants retreated and exhibited antennal cleaning, especially when contact with the nectary took place soon after mucus treatment.
The third experiment investigated ant reaction to earthworm mucus.
