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Inbreeding and caste-specific variation in immune defence in the ant Formica exsecta

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Abstract

Social insects are a widespread and ecologically dominant group. Reproductive division of labour among the females in the colonies is a key trait for their success, but at the same time, it creates dense aggregations of relatives which may promote the spread of disease in the colonies. Hence, the appropriate regulation of immune defence is crucial for the well-being of a colony. Inbreeding may disturb this process through reduced resistance or by impairing the colony’s ability to regulate the responses. We tested the effect of inbreeding and the within-colony differences in the encapsulation response between the two female castes of the ant Formica exsecta. New reproductive females (gynes) born in more inbred colonies, and being more inbred themselves, showed an elevated immune response whereas inbreeding had no effect on worker response. Furthermore, the immune response exhibited by gynes was lower than that of workers and was not dependent on their body size whereas the worker response increased with body size. The elevated response is likely to reflect genetic stress caused by inbreeding, which in turn may compromise colony founding and longevity. Indeed, eliciting a high immune response in itself might not be adaptive. Our results show that the regulation of the expression of immunity differs between female castes despite their similar genetic make-up.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Ulla Vattulainen and Hannele Luhtasela-El-Showk for help in the field, and Michel Chapuisat, Heikki Helanterä, Hannele Luhtasela-El Showk, Markus J. Rantala, James Traniello and an anonymous reviewer for helpful comments that greatly improved this manuscript. This study was funded by the Academy of Finland, grant numbers 54952, 206505 and 121216 and the Finnish Society for Sciences and Letters.

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  1. Department of Biosciences, University of Helsinki, PO Box 65, FI-00014, Helsinki, Finland

    Emma Vitikainen & Liselotte Sundström

  2. Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Cornwall Campus, Tremough, Penryn, Cornwall, TR10 9EZ, UK

    Emma Vitikainen

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Correspondence to Emma Vitikainen.

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Communicated by J. Traniello

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Vitikainen, E., Sundström, L. Inbreeding and caste-specific variation in immune defence in the ant Formica exsecta . Behav Ecol Sociobiol 65, 899–907 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-010-1090-1

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