Social immunity in honeybees-Density dependence, diet, and body mass trade-offs.

ABSTRACT: Group living is favorable to pathogen spread due to the increased risk of disease transmission among individuals. Similar to individual immune defenses, social immunity, that is antiparasite defenses mounted for the benefit of individuals other than the actor, is predicted to be altered in social groups. The eusocial honey bee (Apis mellifera) secretes glucose oxidase (GOX), an antiseptic enzyme, throughout its colony, thereby providing immune protection to other individuals in the hive. We conducted a laboratory experiment to investigate the effects of group density on social immunity, specifically GOX activity, body mass and feeding behavior in caged honey bees. Individual honeybees caged in a low group density displayed increased GOX activity relative to those kept at a high grou

SUBMITTER: Jones B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5980322 | biostudies-literature | 2018 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature