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Parasites and pathogens can follow different patterns of infection depending on the host developmental stage or sex. In fact, immune function is energetically costly for hosts and trade‐offs exist between immune defenses and life history traits as growth, development and reproduction and organisms should thus optimize immune defense through their life cycle according to their developmental stage. Identifying the most susceptible target and the most virulent pathogen is particularly important in the case of insect pests, in order to develop effective control strategies targeting the most vulnerable individuals with the most effective control agent. Here, we carried out laboratory tests to identify the most susceptible target of infection by infecting different stages of the red palm weevil Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (larvae, pupae, male, and female adults) with both a generic pathogen, antibiotic‐resistant Gram‐negative bacteria Escherichia coli XL1‐Blue, and two specific strains of entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs), Steinernema carpocapsae ItS‐CAO1 and Heterorhabditis bacteriophora ItH‐LU1. By evaluating bacterial clearance, host mortality and parasite progeny release, we demonstrate that larvae are more resistant than adults to bacterial challenge and they release less EPNs progeny after infection despite a higher mortality compared to adults. Considering the two EPN strains, S. carpocapsae was more virulent than H. bacteriophora both in terms of host mortality and more abundant progeny released by hosts after death. The outcomes attained with unspecific and specific pathogens provide useful information for a more efficient and sustainable management of this invasive pest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Males are under different selective pressures than females, which results in differences in the physiology of the two sexes to maximize their fitness. In terms of immunity, males are typically considered as the 'sicker sex', where immunocompetence is reduced to favour increased reproductive output. However, male social Hymenoptera are also haploid and therefore lack allelic variation at the individual level, which can also lead to reduced immunocompetence. Over the last decade, several studies have provided evidence for a higher susceptibility to disease in males of social Hymenoptera, without clarifying whether this susceptibility was a direct consequence of their haploid condition or the result of a 'live hard, die young' overall evolutionary strategy. In the present study, we used an experimental approach of bacterial challenge to test the immune response of males and females in two species of social Hymenoptera (honey bees, Apis mellifera; paper wasps, Polistes dominula), where males show very different life-history traits. Drones benefit from colony protection for most of their life, whereas P. dominula males leave their colonies and have to survive for weeks at leks. If the haploid condition is responsible for a higher susceptibility in males, we should expect a lower immune response in males of both species compared to females. Conversely, if the immunocompetence depends on the life-history traits of males, an opposite trend is expected in males of the two species. Our results do not support the 'haploid susceptibility hypothesis' but are in accordance with the different life history of males from the two species. © 2014 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2015, 114, 274-278. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The significant risk of disease transmission has selected for effective immune-defense strategies in insect societies. Division of labour, with individuals specialized in immunity-related tasks, strongly contributes to prevent the spread of diseases. A trade-off, however, may exist between phenotypic specialization to increase task efficiency and maintenance of plasticity to cope with variable colony demands. We investigated the extent of phenotypic specialization associated with a specific task by using allogrooming in the honeybee, Apis mellifera, where worker behaviour might lower ectoparasites load. We adopted an integrated approach to characterize the behavioural and physiological phenotype of allogroomers, by analyzing their behavior (both at individual and social network level), their immunocompetence (bacterial clearance tests) and their chemosensory specialization (proteomics of olfactory organs). We found that allogroomers have higher immune capacity compared to control bees, while they do not differ in chemosensory proteomic profiles. Behaviourally, they do not show differences in the tasks performed (other than allogrooming), while they clearly differ in connectivity within the colonial social network, having a higher centrality than control bees. This demonstrates the presence of an immune-specific physiological and social behavioural specialization in individuals involved in a social immunity related task, thus linking individual to social immunity, and it shows how phenotypes may be specialized in the task performed while maintaining an overall plasticity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]