Abstract
Parasites can influence different host behaviours including foraging, mate choice and predator avoidance. Several recent papers have shown reduced learning abilities in infected insects. However, it is difficult to separate the effects of the immune response from the direct effects of the parasite. Using a free-flying learning paradigm, this paper shows that learning performance is impaired in bumble-bees (Bombus terrestris) that are not infected but whose immune system is stimulated non-pathogenically. This demonstrates that before it is assumed that a parasite has a direct effect on a host's behaviour, the effect of the immune response stimulated by the parasite must first be quantified.
Highlights
Parasites can influence different host behaviours including foraging, mate choice and predator avoidance (Moore 2002)
We have shown that both the honeybee Apis mellifera (Mallon et al 2003a) and the bumble-bee Bombus terrestris (Riddell & Mallon 2006) perform poorly in proboscis extension reflex (PER) memory tests (Bitterman et al 1983) when their immune systems have been challenged by lipopolysaccharide (LPS)
We found that bees whose immune systems were stimulated non-pathogenically by LPS had an impaired ability to learn the colour of the rewarding
Summary
Parasites can influence different host behaviours including foraging, mate choice and predator avoidance (Moore 2002). Several recent papers have shown reduced cognitive abilities in infected insects (Gegear et al 2006; Iqbal & Mueller 2007). Bumble-bees (Bombus impatiens) infected by a protozoan parasite (Crithidia bombi) have an impaired ability to learn the colour of rewarding flowers (Gegear et al 2006). This infectioninduced change to cognitive function in bumble-bees could be the direct effect of the parasite, this seems unlikely as Crithidia is restricted to the gut of the bumble-bee (Gegear et al 2006). It seems more likely that this behaviour is caused by the actions of the immune response
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