Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29866913›Full record

ReviewPhilosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences2018

Insect societies fight back: the evolution of defensive traits against social parasites.

Christoph Grüter, Evelien Jongepier, Susanne Foitzik

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
15citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

15 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Insect immunity in the Anthropocene.Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society · 2025
    Review
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Leg or antenna injury inCurrent zoology · 2022
    Article
  7. Article
  8. The Inquiline AntBiology · 2021
    Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Inquiline social parasites as tools to unlock the secrets of insect sociality.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2019
    Article
  13. Brood parasitism in eusocial insects (Hymenoptera): role of host geographical range size and phylogeny.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2019
    Article
  14. Article
  15. Evolution of pathogen and parasite avoidance behaviours.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2018
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Christoph GrüterInstitute of Organismic and Molecular Evolution, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Johannes von Müller Weg 6, Mainz 55099, Germany.
Evelien JongepierInstitute for Evolution and Biodiversity, Westfälische Wilhelms University, Hüfferstrasse 1, 48149 Münster, Germany.
Susanne FoitzikInstitute of Organismic and Molecular Evolution, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Johannes von Müller Weg 6, Mainz 55099, Germany foitzik@uni-mainz.de.ORCID 0000-0001-8161-6306

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Insect societies face many social parasites that exploit their altruistic behaviours or their resources. Due to the fitness costs these social parasites incur, hosts have evolved various behavioural, chemical, architectural and morphological defence traits. Similar to bacteria infecting multicellular hosts, social parasites have to successfully go through several steps to exploit their hosts. Here, we review how social insects try to interrupt this sequence of events. They can avoid parasite contact by choosing to nest in parasite-free locales or evade attacks by adapting their colony structure. Once social parasites attack, hosts attempt to detect them, which can be facilitated by adjustments in colony odour. If social parasites enter the nest, hosts can either aggressively defend their colony or take their young and flee. Nest structures are often shaped to prevent social parasite invasion or to safeguard host resources. Finally, if social parasites successfully establish themselves in host nests, hosts can rebel by killing the parasite brood or by reproducing in the parasites' presence. Hosts of social parasites can therefore develop multiple traits, leading to the evolution of complex defence portfolios of co-dependent traits. Social parasites can respond to these multi-level defences with counter-adaptations, potentially leading to geographical mosaics of coevolution.This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue 'Evolution of pathogen and parasite avoidance behaviours'.

Indexed as

Biological EvolutionHost-Parasite InteractionsAggressionAnimalsInsectaReproductionSocial Behaviorbehaviourcoevolutioncuticular hydrocarbonsdefence portfoliosresistance

Identifiers

PMID29866913
PMCPMC6000133

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.