No Evidence For An Evolutionary Trade-off Between Learning And Immunity In A Social Insect

The immune response affects learning and memory in insects. Given this and the known fitness costs of both the immune system and learning, does an evolutionary trade-off exist between these two systems? We tested this by measuring the learning ability of twelve bumble-bee colonies. We then tested their immune response. We found a positive relationship between learning performance and immune response, that is, fast learning colonies also show high levels of antimicrobial activity.

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Filed under: Biology on October 29th, 2008