Abstract
Grooming is a well-recognized, multipurpose, behavior in arthropods and vertebrates. In this paper, we review the literature to highlight the physical function, neurophysiological mechanisms, and role that grooming plays in insect defense against pathogenic infection. The intricate relationships between the physical, neurological and immunological mechanisms of grooming are discussed to illustrate the importance of this behavior when examining the ecology of insect-pathogen interactions.
Highlights
In vertebrates, grooming has been described in terms of mutual expression of social acceptance and indicative of familial, as well as dominance, relationships between the different members of a group.Yet grooming is not always associated with social consequences as evidenced by the fact that the majority of animal species studied devote some time to grooming activities [1]
This review focuses on the functional role of grooming in insect disease defense as well as the neurological basis for grooming behaviors to highlight promising areas for future research
The grooming behavior displayed by vertebrates and insects serve multiple functions, such as care and maintenance of the body surface and sensory organs
Summary
In vertebrates, grooming has been described in terms of mutual expression of social acceptance and indicative of familial, as well as dominance, relationships between the different members of a group. Though the functions and associations are still ambiguous, insects of most orders devote a lot of time in grooming activities. Autogrooming (self-grooming) is a classification that includes any act by the subject related to maintenance/care of the body surface and is considered an innate behavior represented across a plethora of vertebrate and invertebrate taxa [13,24]. The inevitable ambiguity when attempting to classify a grooming behavior such as the simple scratching sweep that is often incorporated into a more complex sequence of defense-related behaviors. This is because of a high level of plasticity in grooming-related behaviors and often-subjective observations of the behavior itself. This review highlights insect grooming from the point of survival that is the protection from microbial infection
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