Host heterogeneity and unpredictability in parasite outbreaks.

ABSTRACT: Experimental tests of the effects of host heterogeneities on parasite transmission are rare; previous studies focus on a single host trait over one generation of transmission. Thus, the long-term epidemiological consequences of interacting host heterogeneities remain unclear. We used a laboratory-based experimental system comprising the red flour beetle (Tribolium castaneum) infected with the eugregarine parasite, Gregarina cloptoni, to show, firstly, that two colonies of the beetle are heterogeneous in their susceptibility and infectiousness to the eugregarine. We then constructed experimental populations that differed in population-level heterogeneity in susceptibility and infectiousness by varying proportions of the colonies in the populations and tracked parasite transmis

SUBMITTER: Cohen JA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12818443 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature