Immune response in paper wasp workers: Task matters more than age

: Prato Amanda, Fernando Santos Eduardo, Mendes Ferreira Helena, Akemi Oi Cintia, Santos do Nascimento Fábio, Rantala Markus J., Krams Indrikis, Rodrigues de Souza André

Publisher: Pergamon Press

: 2024

: Journal of Insect Physiology

: 104629

: 154

: 0022-1910

: 1879-1611

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jinsphys.2024.104629

: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jinsphys.2024.104629

Workers of social hymenopterans (ants, bees and wasps) display specific tasks depending on whether they are younger or older. The relative importance of behavior and age in modulating immune function has seldom been addressed. We compared the strength of encapsulation-melanization immune response (hereafter melanotic encapsulation) in paper wasps displaying age polyethism or experimentally prevented from behavioral specialization. Foragers of Polybia paulista had higher melanotic encapsulation than guards, regardless of their age. Nevertheless, melanotic encapsulation decreased with age when wasps were prevented from behavioral specialization. Thus, in this species, worker melanotic encapsulation seems more sensitive to task than age. Foraging is considered one of the riskier behaviors in terms of pathogen exposure, so upregulating melanotic encapsulation in foragers can possibly improve both individual and colony-level resistance against infections.