---
_id: '2938'
abstract:
- lang: eng
  text: 'Social insects have a very high potential to become invasive pest species.
    Here, we explore how their social lifestyle and their interaction with parasites
    may contribute to this invasive success. Similar to solitary species, parasite
    release followed by the evolution of increased competitive ability can promote
    establishment of introduced social insect hosts in their introduced range. Genetic
    bottlenecks during introduction of low numbers of founder individuals decrease
    the genetic diversity at three levels: the population, the colony and the individual,
    with the colony level being specific to social insects. Reduced genetic diversity
    can affect both the individual immune system and the collective colony-level disease
    defences (social immunity). Still, the dual immune system is likely to make social
    insects more robust to parasite attack. Changes in social structure from small,
    family-based, territorially aggressive societies in native populations towards
    huge networks of cooperating nests (unicoloniality) occur in some invasive social
    insects, for example, most invasive ants and some termites. Unicoloniality is
    likely to affect disease dynamics in multiple ways. The free exchange of individuals
    within the population leads to an increased genetic heterogeneity among individuals
    of a single nest, thereby decreasing disease transmission. However, the multitude
    of reproductively active queens per colony buffers the effect of individual diseased
    queens and their offspring, which may result in a higher level of vertical disease
    transmission in unicolonial societies. Lastly, unicoloniality provides a competitive
    advantage over native species, allowing them to quickly become the dominant species
    in the habitat, which in turn selects for parasite adaptation to this common host
    genotype and thus eventually a high parasite pressure. Overall, invasions by insect
    societies are characterized by general features applying to all introduced species,
    as well as idiosyncrasies that emerge from their social lifestyle. It is important
    to study these effects in concert to be able to develop efficient management and
    biocontrol strategies. © 2012 British Ecological Society.'
acknowledgement: We thank Mark Brown, Christopher Pull, Meghan L. Vyleta, Miriam Stock,
  Barbara Casillas-Perez and three anonymous reviewers for valuable comments on the
  manuscript and Eva Sixt for ant drawings. Funding was obtained from the German Science
  Foundation (DFG, by an Individual Research Grant to S.C.) and the European Research
  Council (ERC, by an ERC-Starting Grant to SC and an Individual Marie Curie EIF fellowship
  to L.desU.). The authors declare no conflict of interests.
article_processing_charge: No
author:
- first_name: Line V
  full_name: Ugelvig, Line V
  id: 3DC97C8E-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
  last_name: Ugelvig
  orcid: 0000-0003-1832-8883
- first_name: Sylvia
  full_name: Cremer, Sylvia
  id: 2F64EC8C-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
  last_name: Cremer
  orcid: 0000-0002-2193-3868
citation:
  ama: Ugelvig LV, Cremer S. Effects of social immunity and unicoloniality on host
    parasite interactions in invasive insect societies. <i>Functional Ecology</i>.
    2012;26(6):1300-1312. doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.12013">10.1111/1365-2435.12013</a>
  apa: Ugelvig, L. V., &#38; Cremer, S. (2012). Effects of social immunity and unicoloniality
    on host parasite interactions in invasive insect societies. <i>Functional Ecology</i>.
    Wiley-Blackwell. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.12013">https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.12013</a>
  chicago: Ugelvig, Line V, and Sylvia Cremer. “Effects of Social Immunity and Unicoloniality
    on Host Parasite Interactions in Invasive Insect Societies.” <i>Functional Ecology</i>.
    Wiley-Blackwell, 2012. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.12013">https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.12013</a>.
  ieee: L. V. Ugelvig and S. Cremer, “Effects of social immunity and unicoloniality
    on host parasite interactions in invasive insect societies,” <i>Functional Ecology</i>,
    vol. 26, no. 6. Wiley-Blackwell, pp. 1300–1312, 2012.
  ista: Ugelvig LV, Cremer S. 2012. Effects of social immunity and unicoloniality
    on host parasite interactions in invasive insect societies. Functional Ecology.
    26(6), 1300–1312.
  mla: Ugelvig, Line V., and Sylvia Cremer. “Effects of Social Immunity and Unicoloniality
    on Host Parasite Interactions in Invasive Insect Societies.” <i>Functional Ecology</i>,
    vol. 26, no. 6, Wiley-Blackwell, 2012, pp. 1300–12, doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.12013">10.1111/1365-2435.12013</a>.
  short: L.V. Ugelvig, S. Cremer, Functional Ecology 26 (2012) 1300–1312.
corr_author: '1'
date_created: 2018-12-11T12:00:27Z
date_published: 2012-01-01T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2025-09-30T08:14:20Z
day: '01'
department:
- _id: SyCr
doi: 10.1111/1365-2435.12013
external_id:
  isi:
  - '000311433600008'
intvolume: '        26'
isi: 1
issue: '6'
language:
- iso: eng
month: '01'
oa_version: None
page: 1300 - 1312
publication: Functional Ecology
publication_status: published
publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
publist_id: '3797'
quality_controlled: '1'
scopus_import: '1'
status: public
title: Effects of social immunity and unicoloniality on host parasite interactions
  in invasive insect societies
type: journal_article
user_id: 317138e5-6ab7-11ef-aa6d-ffef3953e345
volume: 26
year: '2012'
...