Feces production as a form of social immunity in an insect with facultative maternal care.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Social animals have the unique capability of mounting social defenses against pathogens. Over the last decades, social immunity has been extensively studied in species with obligatory and permanent forms of social life. However, its occurrence in less derived social systems and thus its role in the early evolution of group-living remains unclear. Here, we investigated whether lining nests with feces is a form of social immunity against microbial growth in the European earwig Forficula auricularia, an insect with temporary family life and facultative maternal care.

Results

Using a total of 415 inhibition zone assays, we showed that earwig feces inhibit the growth of two GRAM+ bacteria, two fungi, but not of a GRAM- bacteria. These inhibitions did not result from th

SUBMITTER: Diehl JM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4408575 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature