The conclusion seems to be that creatures adapted for high risk circumstances live shorter lives, and from what I’ve read elsewhere, it’s due to internal stress

The conclusion seems to be that creatures adapted for high risk circumstances live shorter lives, and from what I’ve read elsewhere, it’s due to internal stresses on the body from hormones and neurotransmitters that drive that high stress behavior. My hand-wavey basis is that: - the ants in the lab were born the same - adaptations were triggered to set persistent behavioral changes - [1] insects have hormones and neurotransmitters - the adaptations must have been primarily hormonal and so physiological to be so definite - the workers are probably adapted for performance-biased self-induced stress - [2] stress reduces lifespan [1] https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/junkie-ants-show-insects-can-be-addicts-too-180960535/ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/junkie-ants-sh... [2] Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers, Sapolsky (the title conflicts with my conclusion but there is a lot of information for how stress harms the host)