A Stresipteran parasite extends the lifespan of workers in a social wasp

Abstract In social wasps, female lifespan depends on caste and colony tasks: workers usually live a few weeks while queens as long as 1 year. Polistes dominula paper wasps infected by the strepsipteran parasite Xenos vesparum avoid all colony tasks, cluster on vegetation where parasite dispersal and...

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Autores principales:	Laura Beani, Romano Dallai, Federico Cappa, Fabio Manfredini, Marco Zaccaroni, Maria Cristina Lorenzi, David Mercati
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2021
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/d8f9800656614f0da09f7c22ecfc6129
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:d8f9800656614f0da09f7c22ecfc61292021-12-02T13:26:25ZA Stresipteran parasite extends the lifespan of workers in a social wasp10.1038/s41598-021-86182-62045-2322https://doaj.org/article/d8f9800656614f0da09f7c22ecfc61292021-03-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-86182-6https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract In social wasps, female lifespan depends on caste and colony tasks: workers usually live a few weeks while queens as long as 1 year. Polistes dominula paper wasps infected by the strepsipteran parasite Xenos vesparum avoid all colony tasks, cluster on vegetation where parasite dispersal and mating occur, hibernate and infect the next generation of wasp larvae. Here, we compared the survival rate of infected and uninfected wasp workers. Workers’ survival was significantly affected by parasite sex: two-third of workers parasitized by a X. vesparum female survived and overwintered like future queens did, while all workers infected by a X. vesparum male died during the summer, like uninfected workers that we used as controls. We measured a set of host and parasite traits possibly associated with the observed lifespan extension. Infected overwintering workers had larger fat bodies than infected workers that died in the summer, but they had similar body size and ovary development. Furthermore, we recorded a positive correlation between parasite and host body sizes. We hypothesize that the manipulation of worker’s longevity operated by X. vesparum enhances parasite’s fitness: if workers infected by a female overwinter, they can spread infective parasite larvae in the spring like parasitized gynes do, thus contributing to parasite transmission.Laura BeaniRomano DallaiFederico CappaFabio ManfrediniMarco ZaccaroniMaria Cristina LorenziDavid MercatiNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-10 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Laura Beani Romano Dallai Federico Cappa Fabio Manfredini Marco Zaccaroni Maria Cristina Lorenzi David Mercati A Stresipteran parasite extends the lifespan of workers in a social wasp
description	Abstract In social wasps, female lifespan depends on caste and colony tasks: workers usually live a few weeks while queens as long as 1 year. Polistes dominula paper wasps infected by the strepsipteran parasite Xenos vesparum avoid all colony tasks, cluster on vegetation where parasite dispersal and mating occur, hibernate and infect the next generation of wasp larvae. Here, we compared the survival rate of infected and uninfected wasp workers. Workers’ survival was significantly affected by parasite sex: two-third of workers parasitized by a X. vesparum female survived and overwintered like future queens did, while all workers infected by a X. vesparum male died during the summer, like uninfected workers that we used as controls. We measured a set of host and parasite traits possibly associated with the observed lifespan extension. Infected overwintering workers had larger fat bodies than infected workers that died in the summer, but they had similar body size and ovary development. Furthermore, we recorded a positive correlation between parasite and host body sizes. We hypothesize that the manipulation of worker’s longevity operated by X. vesparum enhances parasite’s fitness: if workers infected by a female overwinter, they can spread infective parasite larvae in the spring like parasitized gynes do, thus contributing to parasite transmission.
format	article
author	Laura Beani Romano Dallai Federico Cappa Fabio Manfredini Marco Zaccaroni Maria Cristina Lorenzi David Mercati
author_facet	Laura Beani Romano Dallai Federico Cappa Fabio Manfredini Marco Zaccaroni Maria Cristina Lorenzi David Mercati
author_sort	Laura Beani
title	A Stresipteran parasite extends the lifespan of workers in a social wasp
title_short	A Stresipteran parasite extends the lifespan of workers in a social wasp
title_full	A Stresipteran parasite extends the lifespan of workers in a social wasp
title_fullStr	A Stresipteran parasite extends the lifespan of workers in a social wasp
title_full_unstemmed	A Stresipteran parasite extends the lifespan of workers in a social wasp
title_sort	stresipteran parasite extends the lifespan of workers in a social wasp
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/d8f9800656614f0da09f7c22ecfc6129
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A Stresipteran parasite extends the lifespan of workers in a social wasp

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