title: High temperature and temperature variation undermine future disease susceptibility in a population of the invasive garden ant Lasius neglectus.
abstract: Environmental temperature and temperature variation can have strong effects on the outcome of host-parasite interactions. Whilst such effects have been reported for different host systems, long-term consequences of pre-infection temperatures on host susceptibility and immunity remain understudied. Here, we show that experiencing both a biologically relevant increase in temperature and temperature variation undermines future disease susceptibility of the invasive garden ant Lasius neglectus when challenged with a pathogen under a constant temperature regime. In light of the economic and ecological importance of many social insects, our results emphasise the necessity to take the hosts' temperature history into account when studying host-parasite interactions under both natural and laboratory conditions, especially in the face of global change.
authors.affiliation: University of Sussex, School of Life Sciences, JMS building, BN1 9RH, Brighton, UK.
authors.forename: Tobias
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Pamminger
authors.affiliation: Animal Ecology I, University of Bayreuth, Universitätsstr. 30, D-95447, Bayreuth, Germany.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Steier
authors.affiliation: Animal Ecology I, University of Bayreuth, Universitätsstr. 30, D-95447, Bayreuth, Germany. simon.tragust@uni-bayreuth.de.
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tragust
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001000:Ants / Q000382:microbiology*; D004198:Disease Susceptibility; D005658:Fungi / Q000502:physiology*; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions; D058865:Introduced Species; D016019:Survival Analysis; D013696:Temperature
keywords: Acclimation; Climate change; Ecological immunology; Entomopathogenic fungi; Host-parasite interaction; Immunity