10.5061/DRYAD.NP5HQBZPB
Nuotclà, Jon Andreja
0000-0001-5568-8197
University of Bern
Biedermann, Peter
University of Würzburg
Taborsky, Michael
University of Bern
Pathogen defence is a potential driver of social evolution in ambrosia beetles
Dryad
dataset
2019
Social immunity
Pathogen defence
Social evolution
Insect-fungus mutualism
Ambrosia beetle
2019-12-10T00:00:00Z
2019-12-10T00:00:00Z
en
49571 bytes
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CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
Social immunity – the collective behavioural defences against pathogens -
is considered a crucial evolutionary force for the maintenance of insect
societies. It has been described and investigated primarily in eusocial
insects, but its role in the evolutionary trajectory from parental care to
eusociality is little understood. Here, we report on the existence,
plasticity, effectiveness and consequences of social pathogen defence in
experimental nests of cooperatively breeding ambrosia beetles. After an
Aspergillus-spore-buffer solution or a control buffer solution had been
injected in laboratory nests, totipotent adult female workers increased
their activity and hygienic behaviours like allogrooming and cannibalism.
Such social immune responses had not been described for any non-eusocial,
cooperatively breeding insect before. Removal of beetles from
Aspergillus-treated nests in a paired experimental design revealed that
the hygienic behaviours of beetles significantly reduced pathogen
prevalence in the nest. Furthermore, in response to pathogen injections,
female helpers delayed dispersal and thus prolonged their cooperative
phase within their mother’s nest. Our findings of appropriate social
responses to an experimental immune challenge in a cooperatively breeding
beetle corroborate the view that social immunity is not an exclusive
attribute of eusocial insects, but rather a concomitant and presumably
important feature in the evolutionary transitions towards complex social
organization.
Dataset containes all the raw data that where used for the paper
"Pathogen defence is a potential driver of social evolution in
ambrosia beetles" published in Proceedings of The Royal Society B
Biological Sciences.
Descriptive file is included in upload.