TY - JOUR
T1 - Caste, Sex, and Parasitism Influence Brain Plasticity in a Social Wasp
AU - Gandia, Kristine M.
AU - Cappa, Federico
AU - Baracchi, David
AU - Hauber, Mark E.
AU - Beani, Laura
AU - Uy, Floria M.K.
N1 - KG, MH, and FU were supported by a National Academies Keck Future Initiatives Grant (NAKFI). FC, DB, and LB were supported by University of Florence funds. MH was an associate at the Center for Advanced Study at the University of Illinois and a visiting fellow at the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin. Samples were imported from Italy into the United States via USDA permit #128388.
PY - 2022/1/28
Y1 - 2022/1/28
N2 - Brain plasticity is widespread in nature, as it enables adaptive responses to sensory demands associated with novel stimuli, environmental changes and social conditions. Social Hymenoptera are particularly well-suited to study neuroplasticity, because the division of labor amongst females and the different life histories of males and females are associated with specific sensory needs. Here, we take advantage of the social wasp Polistes dominula to explore if brain plasticity is influenced by caste and sex, and the exploitation by the strepsipteran parasite Xenos vesparum. Within sexes, male wasps had proportionally larger optic lobes, while females had larger antennal lobes, which is consistent with the sensory needs of sex-specific life histories. Within castes, reproductive females had larger mushroom body calyces, as predicted by their sensory needs for extensive within-colony interactions and winter aggregations, than workers who frequently forage for nest material and prey. Parasites had different effects on female and male hosts. Contrary to our predictions, female workers were castrated and behaviorally manipulated by female or male parasites, but only showed moderate differences in brain tissue allocation compared to non-parasitized workers. Parasitized males maintained their reproductive apparatus and sexual behavior. However, they had smaller brains and larger sensory brain regions than non-parasitized males. Our findings confirm that caste and sex mediate brain plasticity in P. dominula, and that parasitic manipulation drives differential allocation of brain regions depending on host sex.
AB - Brain plasticity is widespread in nature, as it enables adaptive responses to sensory demands associated with novel stimuli, environmental changes and social conditions. Social Hymenoptera are particularly well-suited to study neuroplasticity, because the division of labor amongst females and the different life histories of males and females are associated with specific sensory needs. Here, we take advantage of the social wasp Polistes dominula to explore if brain plasticity is influenced by caste and sex, and the exploitation by the strepsipteran parasite Xenos vesparum. Within sexes, male wasps had proportionally larger optic lobes, while females had larger antennal lobes, which is consistent with the sensory needs of sex-specific life histories. Within castes, reproductive females had larger mushroom body calyces, as predicted by their sensory needs for extensive within-colony interactions and winter aggregations, than workers who frequently forage for nest material and prey. Parasites had different effects on female and male hosts. Contrary to our predictions, female workers were castrated and behaviorally manipulated by female or male parasites, but only showed moderate differences in brain tissue allocation compared to non-parasitized workers. Parasitized males maintained their reproductive apparatus and sexual behavior. However, they had smaller brains and larger sensory brain regions than non-parasitized males. Our findings confirm that caste and sex mediate brain plasticity in P. dominula, and that parasitic manipulation drives differential allocation of brain regions depending on host sex.
KW - Polistes dominula
KW - Xenos vesparum
KW - brain plasticity
KW - parasite
KW - parasitic manipulation of host
KW - sensory brain regions
KW - social wasp
KW - strepsiptera
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U2 - 10.3389/fevo.2022.803437
DO - 10.3389/fevo.2022.803437
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85124624352
SN - 2296-701X
VL - 10
JO - Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution
JF - Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution
M1 - 803437
ER -