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Journal articles on the topic 'Social insect'

Author: Grafiati

Published: 4 June 2021

Last updated: 10 March 2023

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1

Middleton, Eliza J. T., and Tanya Latty. "Resilience in social insect infrastructure systems." Journal of The Royal Society Interface 13, no. 116 (2016): 20151022. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2015.1022.

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Both human and insect societies depend on complex and highly coordinated infrastructure systems, such as communication networks, supply chains and transportation networks. Like human-designed infrastructure systems, those of social insects are regularly subject to disruptions such as natural disasters, blockages or breaks in the transportation network, fluctuations in supply and/or demand, outbreaks of disease and loss of individuals. Unlike human-designed systems, there is no deliberate planning or centralized control system; rather, individual insects make simple decisions based on local information. How do these highly decentralized, leaderless systems deal with disruption? What factors make a social insect system resilient, and which factors lead to its collapse? In this review, we bring together literature on resilience in three key social insect infrastructure systems: transportation networks, supply chains and communication networks. We describe how systems differentially invest in three pathways to resilience: resistance, redirection or reconstruction. We suggest that investment in particular resistance pathways is related to the severity and frequency of disturbance. In the final section, we lay out a prospectus for future research. Human infrastructure networks are rapidly becoming decentralized and interconnected; indeed, more like social insect infrastructures. Human infrastructure management might therefore learn from social insect researchers, who can in turn make use of the mature analytical and simulation tools developed for the study of human infrastructure resilience.

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Suryanarayanan, Sainath. "The Social Evolving: Sociogenomics on the Wings of Social Insects." HoST - Journal of History of Science and Technology 13, no. 2 (2019): 86–117. http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/host-2019-0014.

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Abstract This paper excavates the epistemological and ontological foundations of a rapidly emerging field called sociogenomics in relation to the development of social insects as models of social behavior. Its center-stage is “the genome,” where social and environmental information and genetic variation interact to influence social behavior through dynamic shifts in gene expression across multiple bodies and time-scales. With the advent of whole-genome sequencing technology, comparative genomics, and computational tools for mining patterns of association across widely disparate datasets, social insects are being experimented with to identify genetic networks underlying autism, novelty-seeking and aggression evolutionarily shared with humans. Drawing on the writings of key social insect biologists, and historians and philosophers of science, I investigate how the historical development of social insect research on wasps, ants and bees shape central approaches in sociogenomics today, in particular, with regards to shifting understandings of “the individual” in relation to “the social.”

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Szczuka, Anna, Ewa Joanna Godzińska, and Julita Korczyńska. "FACTORS MEDIATING ANT SOCIAL BEHAVIOR: INTERPLAY OF NEUROMODULATION AND SOCIAL CONTEXT." Kosmos 68, no. 4 (2020): 575–89. http://dx.doi.org/10.36921/kos.2019_2620.

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The main aim of this review was to show that proximate causation of insect social behavior involves complex interplay of cues and signals originating from both lower and higher levels of organization encountered in insect societies. We focused our review on context-dependence of neuromodulation of insect social behavior by specific neuroactive compounds including several biogenic amines (octopamine, serotonin, dopamine and tyramine), and classical amino acid neurotransmitters [γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and glutamate (Glu)]. We provided numerous examples of the role of these compounds in the mediation of affiliative social contacts, aggressive behavior, ontogeny of behavior (including behavioral reversion), and modifications of the reproductive status of the individual. We also discussed how brain contents of specific neuroactive compounds and the effects of their administration depend on individual properties of the tested insects, systematic group to which they belong, and external conditions defining their past and present physical and social environment.

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4

Fewell, J. H. "Social Insect Networks." Science 301, no. 5641 (2003): 1867–70. http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1088945.

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Badejo, Oluwatobi, Oksana Skaldina, Aleksei Gilev, and Jouni Sorvari. "Benefits of insect colours: a review from social insect studies." Oecologia 194, no. 1-2 (2020): 27–40. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00442-020-04738-1.

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Abstract Insect colours assist in body protection, signalling, and physiological adaptations. Colours also convey multiple channels of information. These channels are valuable for species identification, distinguishing individual quality, and revealing ecological or evolutionary aspects of animals’ life. During recent years, the emerging interest in colour research has been raised in social hymenopterans such as ants, wasps, and bees. These insects provide important ecosystem services and many of those are model research organisms. Here we review benefits that various colour types give to social insects, summarize practical applications, and highlight further directions. Ants might use colours principally for camouflage, however the evolutionary function of colour in ants needs more attention; in case of melanin colouration there is evidence for its interrelation with thermoregulation and pathogen resistance. Colours in wasps and bees have confirmed linkages to thermoregulation, which is increasingly important in face of global climate change. Besides wasps use colours for various types of signalling. Colour variations of well chemically defended social insects are the mimetic model for unprotected organisms. Despite recent progress in molecular identification of species, colour variations are still widely in use for species identification. Therefore, further studies on variability is encouraged. Being closely interconnected with physiological and biochemical processes, insect colouration is a great source for finding new ecological indicators and biomarkers. Due to novel digital imaging techniques, software, and artificial intelligence there are emerging possibilities for new advances in this topic. Further colour research in social insects should consider specific features of sociality.

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6

Leadbeater, Ellouise, and Erika H. Dawson. "A social insect perspective on the evolution of social learning mechanisms." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 114, no. 30 (2017): 7838–45. http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1620744114.

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The social world offers a wealth of opportunities to learn from others, and across the animal kingdom individuals capitalize on those opportunities. Here, we explore the role of natural selection in shaping the processes that underlie social information use, using a suite of experiments on social insects as case studies. We illustrate how an associative framework can encompass complex, context-specific social learning in the insect world and beyond, and based on the hypothesis that evolution acts to modify the associative process, suggest potential pathways by which social information use could evolve to become more efficient and effective. Social insects are distant relatives of vertebrate social learners, but the research we describe highlights routes by which natural selection could coopt similar cognitive raw material across the animal kingdom.

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7

Feldhaar, Heike, and Oliver Otti. "Pollutants and Their Interaction with Diseases of Social Hymenoptera." Insects 11, no. 3 (2020): 153. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/insects11030153.

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Many insect species, including social insects, are currently declining in abundance and diversity. Pollutants such as pesticides, heavy metals, or airborne fine particulate matter from agricultural and industrial sources are among the factors driving this decline. While these pollutants can have direct detrimental effects, they can also result in negative interactive effects when social insects are simultaneously exposed to multiple stressors. For example, sublethal effects of pollutants can increase the disease susceptibility of social insects, and thereby jeopardize their survival. Here we review how pesticides, heavy metals, or airborne fine particulate matter interact with social insect physiology and especially the insects’ immune system. We then give an overview of the current knowledge of the interactive effects of these pollutants with pathogens or parasites. While the effects of pesticide exposure on social insects and their interactions with pathogens have been relatively well studied, the effects of other pollutants, such as heavy metals in soil or fine particulate matter from combustion, vehicular transport, agriculture, and coal mining are still largely unknown. We therefore provide an overview of urgently needed knowledge in order to mitigate the decline of social insects.

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8

Bear, Christopher. "Approaching Insect Death: Understandings and Practices of the UK’s Edible Insect Farmers." Society & Animals 27, no. 7 (2019): 751–68. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/15685306-00001871.

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AbstractWhile insects are eaten by around two billion people globally, they are a relatively new addition to the UK’s culinary landscape. A domestic production sector has begun to emerge to supply this new appetite for insects. Social scientists have been quick to explore consumer attitudes to “edible insects” but insect farmers have thus far been largely ignored. This paper addresses this gap by drawing on interviews with the UK’s current and recent edible insect farmers to explore their understandings of, and approaches to, insect death, something about which all participants expressed concern. The paper examines: 1) reasons for farmers’ concerns around how they kill their insects, ranging from anxieties around insect pain to perceived consumer attitudes; and 2) farmers’ ideas about what constitutes a “good” death for insects, and how they incorporate this in their practices.

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9

Wojcik, D. P. "Social Insect Defense Mechanisms." Bulletin of the Entomological Society of America 32, no. 3 (1986): 177–78. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/besa/32.3.177.

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10

Ydenberg, Ron, and Paul Schmid-Hempel. "Modelling social insect foraging." Trends in Ecology & Evolution 9, no. 12 (1994): 491–93. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0169-5347(94)90321-2.

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11

Aanen, Duur K., and Jacobus J. Boomsma. "Social-insect fungus farming." Current Biology 16, no. 24 (2006): R1014—R1016. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2006.11.016.

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12

Abbot, Patrick. "Defense in Social Insects: Diversity, Division of Labor, and Evolution." Annual Review of Entomology 67, no. 1 (2022): 407–36. http://dx.doi.org/10.1146/annurev-ento-082521-072638.

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All social insects defend their colony from predators, parasites, and pathogens. In Oster and Wilson's classic work, they posed one of the key paradoxes about defense in social insects: Given the universal necessity of defense, why then is there so much diversity in mechanisms? Ecological factors undoubtedly are important: Predation and usurpation have imposed strong selection on eusocial insects, and active defense by colonies is a ubiquitous feature of all social insects. The description of diverse insect groups with castes of sterile workers whose main duty is defense has broadened the purview of social evolution in insects, in particular with respect to caste and behavior. Defense is one of the central axes along which we can begin to organize and understand sociality in insects. With the establishment of social insect models such as the honey bee, new discoveries are emerging regarding the endocrine, neural, and gene regulatory mechanisms underlying defense in social insects. The mechanisms underlying morphological and behavioral defense traits may be shared across diverse groups, providing opportunities for identifying both conserved and novel mechanisms at work. Emerging themes highlight the context dependency of and interaction between factors that regulate defense in social insects.

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13

Porter, Sanford D. "Insect Defenses Defensive Mechanisms in Social Insects Henry R. Hermann." BioScience 36, no. 3 (1986): 196. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1310313.

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14

Holbrook, C. Tate, Rebecca M. Clark, Dani Moore, Rick P. Overson, Clint A. Penick, and Adrian A. Smith. "Social insects inspire human design." Biology Letters 6, no. 4 (2010): 431–33. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2010.0270.

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The international conference ‘Social Biomimicry: Insect Societies and Human Design’, hosted by Arizona State University, USA, 18–20 February 2010, explored how the collective behaviour and nest architecture of social insects can inspire innovative and effective solutions to human design challenges. It brought together biologists, designers, engineers, computer scientists, architects and businesspeople, with the dual aims of enriching biology and advancing biomimetic design.

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15

Singh, Sujata, Archana Singh, Varsha Baweja, Amit Roy, Amrita Chakraborty, and Indrakant Kumar Singh. "Molecular Rationale of Insect-Microbes Symbiosis—From Insect Behaviour to Mechanism." Microorganisms 9, no. 12 (2021): 2422. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms9122422.

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Insects nurture a panoply of microbial populations that are often obligatory and exist mutually with their hosts. Symbionts not only impact their host fitness but also shape the trajectory of their phenotype. This co-constructed niche successfully evolved long in the past to mark advanced ecological specialization. The resident microbes regulate insect nutrition by controlling their host plant specialization and immunity. It enhances the host fitness and performance by detoxifying toxins secreted by the predators and abstains them. The profound effect of a microbial population on insect physiology and behaviour is exploited to understand the host–microbial system in diverse taxa. Emergent research of insect-associated microbes has revealed their potential to modulate insect brain functions and, ultimately, control their behaviours, including social interactions. The revelation of the gut microbiota–brain axis has now unravelled insects as a cost-effective potential model to study neurodegenerative disorders and behavioural dysfunctions in humans. This article reviewed our knowledge about the insect–microbial system, an exquisite network of interactions operating between insects and microbes, its mechanistic insight that holds intricate multi-organismal systems in harmony, and its future perspectives. The demystification of molecular networks governing insect–microbial symbiosis will reveal the perplexing behaviours of insects that could be utilized in managing insect pests.

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16

ALI, MAHMOUD FADL, and E. DAVID MORGAN. "CHEMICAL COMMUNICATION IN INSECT COMMUNITIES: A GUIDE TO INSECT PHEROMONES WITH SPECIAL EMPHASIS ON SOCIAL INSECTS." Biological Reviews 65, no. 3 (1990): 227–47. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-185x.1990.tb01425.x.

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17

Crumière, Antonin J. J., Calum J. Stephenson, Manuel Nagel, and Jonathan Z. Shik. "Using Nutritional Geometry to Explore How Social Insects Navigate Nutritional Landscapes." Insects 11, no. 1 (2020): 53. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/insects11010053.

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Insects face many cognitive challenges as they navigate nutritional landscapes that comprise their foraging environments with potential food items. The emerging field of nutritional geometry (NG) can help visualize these challenges, as well as the foraging solutions exhibited by insects. Social insect species must also make these decisions while integrating social information (e.g., provisioning kin) and/or offsetting nutrients provisioned to, or received from unrelated mutualists. In this review, we extend the logic of NG to make predictions about how cognitive challenges ramify across these social dimensions. Focusing on ants, we outline NG predictions in terms of fundamental and realized nutritional niches, considering when ants interact with related nestmates and unrelated bacterial, fungal, plant, and insect mutualists. The nutritional landscape framework we propose provides new avenues for hypothesis testing and for integrating cognition research with broader eco-evolutionary principles.

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18

Ochieng, Omala Kevin, Adrian Mukhebi, and Mary Orinda. "Effects of Social, Cultural and Economic Factors on Consumption of Edible Insects for Household Food Security." East African Journal of Arts and Social Sciences 6, no. 1 (2023): 39–53. http://dx.doi.org/10.37284/eajass.6.1.1060.

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Edible insects have been identified as a possible sustainable food source not only because they are rich in proteins and other nutrients required by the body, but they can also cheaply and sustainably support the hungry, the malnourished and the poor. Indisputably, people have been slow to embrace the consumption of edible insects across the globe and narrowly in Siaya County of Western Kenya. Few studies have been conducted to provide information on low uptake and consumption of edible insects in the county, especially pertaining to social, culture and economic factors. A multistage random sampling technique was used in the selection of the respondents in this study, followed by a systematic data collection using a digital questionnaire coded and configured in ODK Collect. A descriptive study design was adopted whereby a semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect data on key variables. Additionally, a key informant interview guide was also used to collect data mainly for triangulating information received from the respondents on enabling and limiting factors (social, cultural, and economic variables) on the consumption of insects as a household food security source. Descriptive statistic such as frequencies, percentages, means and standard deviations and graphics were used to report the analysis and visualization of the collected data. An ordinal regression model was used to assess the effects of social, cultural, and economic factors on the consumption of edible insects in the county. It was found that there was no significant association between formal education and insect consumption, family size and insect consumption rate or between age and insect consumption. However, the findings revealed that economic activities of the participants do influence the consumption of insects in households, although the land owned by respondents did not significantly influence the consumption of insects. Insect consumption in the region of study, was also impacted by the cultural beliefs and values of the respondents.

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Ruiz-González, Mario X., Yannick Moret, and Mark J. F. Brown. "Rapid induction of immune density-dependent prophylaxis in adult social insects." Biology Letters 5, no. 6 (2009): 781–83. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2009.0505.

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The innate immune system provides defence against parasites and pathogens. This defence comes at a cost, suggesting that immune function should exhibit plasticity in response to variation in environmental threats. Density-dependent prophylaxis (DDP) has been demonstrated mostly in phase-polyphenic insects, where larval group size determines levels of immune function in either adults or later larval instars. Social insects exhibit extreme sociality, but DDP has been suggested to be absent from these ecologically dominant taxa. Here we show that adult bumble-bee workers ( Bombus terrestris ) exhibit rapid plasticity in their immune function in response to social context. These results suggest that DDP does not depend upon larval conditions, and is likely to be a widespread and labile response to rapidly changing conditions in adult insect populations. This has obvious ramifications for experimental analysis of immune function in insects, and serious implications for our understanding of the epidemiology and impact of pathogens and parasites in spatially structured adult insect populations.

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Liu, Long, Xing-Ying Zhao, Qing-Bo Tang, Chao-Liang Lei, and Qiu-Ying Huang. "The Mechanisms of Social Immunity Against Fungal Infections in Eusocial Insects." Toxins 11, no. 5 (2019): 244. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/toxins11050244.

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Entomopathogenic fungus as well as their toxins is a natural threat surrounding social insect colonies. To defend against them, social insects have evolved a series of unique disease defenses at the colony level, which consists of behavioral and physiological adaptations. These colony-level defenses can reduce the infection and poisoning risk and improve the survival of societal members, and is known as social immunity. In this review, we discuss how social immunity enables the insect colony to avoid, resist and tolerate fungal pathogens. To understand the molecular basis of social immunity, we highlight several genetic elements and biochemical factors that drive the colony-level defense, which needs further verification. We discuss the chemosensory genes in regulating social behaviors, the antifungal secretions such as some insect venoms in external defense and the immune priming in internal defense. To conclude, we show the possible driving force of the fungal toxins for the evolution of social immunity. Throughout the review, we propose several questions involved in social immunity extended from some phenomena that have been reported. We hope our review about social ‘host–fungal pathogen’ interactions will help us further understand the mechanism of social immunity in eusocial insects.

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Brown, Brian V. "Fossil evidence of social insect commensalism in the Phoridae (Insecta: Diptera)." Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 15, no. 4 (2016): 275–85. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14772019.2016.1172676.

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22

Ang, Li-Minn, Kah Phooi Seng, and Adamu Murtala Zungeru. "Utilizing Social Insect-Based Communities for Routing in Network-based Sensor Systems." International Journal of Swarm Intelligence Research 7, no. 4 (2016): 52–70. http://dx.doi.org/10.4018/ijsir.2016100103.

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The emergence of new technologies such as Internet/Web/Network-of-Things and large scale wireless sensor systems requires the collection of data from an increasing volume of networked-based sensors for analysis. This increases the challenge of routing in network-based sensor systems. This paper presents a study to utilize social insect-based communities for routing in wireless sensor networks. The authors will use for discussion two types of insects: ants and termites. Social insect communities are formed from simple, autonomous and cooperative organisms that are interdependent for their survival. These communities are able to effectively coordinate themselves to achieve global objectives despite a lack of centralized planning. The performances of these insect-based algorithms were tested on common routing scenarios. The results were compared with other routing algorithms with varying network density and showed that insect-based routing techniques improved on network energy consumption with a control over best-effort service.

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23

Costa, James T. "Evolution of Social Insect Colonies." Annals of the Entomological Society of America 90, no. 6 (1997): 861–62. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/aesa/90.6.861.

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24

Rosengaus, Rebeca B., James F. A. Traniello, Tammy Chen, Julie J. Brown, and Richard D. Karp. "Immunity in a Social Insect." Naturwissenschaften 86, no. 12 (1999): 588–91. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s001140050679.

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Payne, C. L. R., D. Dobermann, A. Forkes, et al. "Insects as food and feed: European perspectives on recent research and future priorities." Journal of Insects as Food and Feed 2, no. 4 (2016): 269–76. http://dx.doi.org/10.3920/jiff2016.0011.

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This paper discusses the current state and priorities of Europe-based research on insects as food and feed, based on presentations at a workshop held in December 2015, and discussions that followed. We divide research into studies that focus on farming, health and nutrition, and those that prioritise psychological, social and political concerns. Edible insects are not necessarily universally beneficial. However, certain food insects can convert organic waste material, and provide nutrient-rich protein for humans and animals. Recent research is not concordant when trying to identify social and psychological barriers to insects as food in Europe, indicating the complexity of the issue of consumer acceptance. Innovative means of marketing insects as food include 3D printing, scientific comics, and the promotion of rural food culture in an urban setting. Edible insects are intimately connected to strong cultural and regional values, and their increasing commercialisation may empower and/or disenfranchise those who hold such values. We conclude with a discussion about the future priorities of edible insect research in Europe. We acknowledge the political nature of the ‘entomophagy’ movement. With legislative change, the insect food industry potential presents an opportunity to challenge the dynamics of current food systems. We identify the following priorities for future research: the need to better understand environmental impacts of insect procurement on both a regional and global scale, to investigate factors affecting the safety and quality of insect foods, to acknowledge the complexity of consumer acceptance, and to monitor the social and economic impacts of this growing industry.

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Schäufele, Isabel, Eric Barrera Albores, and Ulrich Hamm. "The role of species for the acceptance of edible insects: evidence from a consumer survey." British Food Journal 121, no. 9 (2019): 2190–204. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/bfj-01-2019-0017.

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Purpose Even though insect products increasingly receive attention as a sustainable food alternative to meat, consumer acceptance remains low. The purpose of this paper is to test consumer acceptance of two different insect species with varying degrees of processing which led to different degrees of insects’ visibility. Design/methodology/approach Insect dishes that varied according to species and degree of visibility were presented to participants of a self-administered personal survey within a meal context. Consumer acceptance was measured through the willingness-to-try the different dishes, and a hierarchical linear regression was applied to estimate the role of insect species. Findings Consumer acceptance can be improved by focusing on different forms of food processing and different insect species. The lower the visibility of insects, the higher the consumer acceptance, independent of insect species. However, this is not sufficient to overcome consumers’ widely held rejection. Main barriers for consumer acceptance seem to be low social and cultural acceptance, fear of trying unknown products and a lack of taste experience. Originality/value A huge body of literature has examined determinants of insect consumption, but the majority of these studies did not consider the effects of insect species. The study’s main objective is to close this research gap while checking the most relevant individual traits as identified through a literature review: food neophobia and familiarity, social and cultural norms, awareness of benefits of insect production, meat consumption and socio-demographics.

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Marshall, James A. R., Rafal Bogacz, Anna Dornhaus, Robert Planqué, Tim Kovacs, and Nigel R. Franks. "On optimal decision-making in brains and social insect colonies." Journal of The Royal Society Interface 6, no. 40 (2009): 1065–74. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2008.0511.

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The problem of how to compromise between speed and accuracy in decision-making faces organisms at many levels of biological complexity. Striking parallels are evident between decision-making in primate brains and collective decision-making in social insect colonies: in both systems, separate populations accumulate evidence for alternative choices; when one population reaches a threshold, a decision is made for the corresponding alternative, and this threshold may be varied to compromise between the speed and the accuracy of decision-making. In primate decision-making, simple models of these processes have been shown, under certain parametrizations, to implement the statistically optimal procedure that minimizes decision time for any given error rate. In this paper, we adapt these same analysis techniques and apply them to new models of collective decision-making in social insect colonies. We show that social insect colonies may also be able to achieve statistically optimal collective decision-making in a very similar way to primate brains, via direct competition between evidence-accumulating populations. This optimality result makes testable predictions for how collective decision-making in social insects should be organized. Our approach also represents the first attempt to identify a common theoretical framework for the study of decision-making in diverse biological systems.

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López-Uribe, Margarita M., Warren B. Sconiers, Steven D. Frank, Robert R. Dunn, and David R. Tarpy. "Reduced cellular immune response in social insect lineages." Biology Letters 12, no. 3 (2016): 20150984. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2015.0984.

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Social living poses challenges for individual fitness because of the increased risk of disease transmission among conspecifics. Despite this challenge, sociality is an evolutionarily successful lifestyle, occurring in the most abundant and diverse group of organisms on earth—the social insects. Two contrasting hypotheses predict the evolutionary consequences of sociality on immune systems. The social group hypothesis posits that sociality leads to stronger individual immune systems because of the higher risk of disease transmission in social species. By contrast, the relaxed selection hypothesis proposes that social species have evolved behavioural immune defences that lower disease risk within the group, resulting in lower immunity at the individual level. We tested these hypotheses by measuring the encapsulation response in 11 eusocial and non-eusocial insect lineages. We built phylogenetic mixed linear models to investigate the effect of behaviour, colony size and body size on cellular immune response. We found a significantly negative effect of colony size on encapsulation response (Markov chain Monte Carlo generalized linear mixed model (mcmcGLMM) p < 0.05; phylogenetic generalized least squares (PGLS) p < 0.05). Our findings suggest that insects living in large societies may rely more on behavioural mechanisms, such as hygienic behaviours, than on immune function to reduce the risk of disease transmission among nest-mates.

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Macombe, C., S. Le Feon, J. Aubin, and F. Maillard. "Marketing and social effects of industrial scale insect value chains in Europe: case of mealworm for feed in France." Journal of Insects as Food and Feed 5, no. 3 (2019): 215–24. http://dx.doi.org/10.3920/jiff2018.0047.

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Insects are becoming part of the human diet in many regions of the world, either directly or indirectly, as livestock feed. Insects could become a significant feed ingredient if produced at industrial scale, but it is a challenge. Such an emerging sector would result in substantial social effects. One innovation of the DESIRABLE project is exploring potential social consequences induced by industrial scale development of insect production in France for feed, under several production and marketing assumptions. First, this paper explains how the stakeholders and researchers involved in the project built and selected some framework scenarios, which depict upstream (production and meal processing) scenarios. Downstream scenarios were designed based on interviews with specialists in poultry, trout, and feed production markets, that allowed to proposing plausible scenarios for marketing. The potential outlets are more or less narrow market ‘niches’: feed for laying hens to produce organic eggs, or for farmed trout eating insect meal. Second, the method for evaluating social effects linked with the emergence of the new insect’ industry, a social life cycle analysis in four detailed scenarios. The main positive social effects of the four detailed scenarios result from job creation in the insect production sector, while effects on other feed-ingredient suppliers are few. Negative effects result from the allergy risk for employees and potential disturbance to nearby neighbourhoods, but the latter can be easily managed by carefully choosing the locations. In the two scenarios with integrated bio refinery, exists a major risk that could stop the industrial project: activists could use environmental or animal-welfare concerns to oppose the bio refinery, because of agricultural land and water preservation and/or opposition to industrial scale insect production. Nevertheless, insect meal can help preserve fishery resources by providing a constant substitute for fish meal.

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Dodd, Adam. "The Trouble with Insect Cyborgs." Society & Animals 22, no. 2 (2014): 153–73. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/15685306-12341254.

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Abstract This paper examines recent developments in the construction of insect cyborgs by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (darpa), a branch of the u.s. Department of Defense, as part of its Hybrid Insect Microelectromechanical Systems (hi-mems ) project. It takes a sociological approach in order to account for the processes involved in the creation of insect cyborgs, arguing that such creatures should be seen as the outcome of social, as well as technological, conditions. The paper critically reflects on the ethical implications of the hi-mems project and discusses the philosophical repercussions of treating insects as if they are machines.

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Rosengaus, Rebeca B., Tanya Malak, and Christopher MacKintosh. "Immune-priming in ant larvae: social immunity does not undermine individual immunity." Biology Letters 9, no. 6 (2013): 20130563. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2013.0563.

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Social insects deploy numerous strategies against pathogens including behavioural, biochemical and immunological responses. While past research has revealed that adult social insects can generate immunity, few studies have focused on the immune function during an insect's early life stages. We hypothesized that larvae of the black carpenter ant Camponotus pennsylvanicus vaccinated with heat-killed Serratia marcescens should be less susceptible to a challenge with an active and otherwise lethal dose of the bacterium. We compared the in vivo benefits of prior vaccination of young larvae relative to naive and ringer injected controls. Regardless of colony of origin, survival parameters of vaccinated individuals following a challenge were significantly higher than those of the other two treatments. Results support the hypothesis that ant larvae exhibit immune-priming. Based on these results, we can infer that brood care by workers does not eliminate the need for individual-level immunological responses. Focusing on these early stages of development within social insect colonies can start addressing the complex dynamics between physiological (individual level) and social (collective) immunity.

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Biedermann, Peter H. W., and Fernando E. Vega. "Ecology and Evolution of Insect–Fungus Mutualisms." Annual Review of Entomology 65, no. 1 (2020): 431–55. http://dx.doi.org/10.1146/annurev-ento-011019-024910.

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The evolution of a mutualism requires reciprocal interactions whereby one species provides a service that the other species cannot perform or performs less efficiently. Services exchanged in insect–fungus mutualisms include nutrition, protection, and dispersal. In ectosymbioses, which are the focus of this review, fungi can be consumed by insects or can degrade plant polymers or defensive compounds, thereby making a substrate available to insects. They can also protect against environmental factors and produce compounds antagonistic to microbial competitors. Insects disperse fungi and can also provide fungal growth substrates and protection. Insect–fungus mutualisms can transition from facultative to obligate, whereby each partner is no longer viable on its own. Obligate dependency has ( a) resulted in the evolution of morphological adaptations in insects and fungi, ( b) driven the evolution of social behaviors in some groups of insects, and ( c) led to the loss of sexuality in some fungal mutualists.

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33

Meyer-Rochow, Victor Benno, Ruparao T. Gahukar, Sampat Ghosh, and Chuleui Jung. "Chemical Composition, Nutrient Quality and Acceptability of Edible Insects Are Affected by Species, Developmental Stage, Gender, Diet, and Processing Method." Foods 10, no. 5 (2021): 1036. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/foods10051036.

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Edible insects have been considered as either nutritious food itemsper se, or as wholesome ingredients to various dishes and components of traditional subsistence. Protein, fat, mineral and vitamin contents in insects generally satisfy the requirements of healthy food, although there is considerable variation associated with insect species, collection site, processing method, insect life stage, rearing technology and insect feed. A comparison of available data(based on dry weight) showed that processing can improve the nutrient content, taste, flavour, appearance and palatability of insects, but that there are additional factors, which can impact the content and composition of insect species that have been recommended for consumption by humans. This review focuses on factors that have received little attention in connection with the task to improve acceptability or choice of edible insects and suggests ways to guarantee food security in countries where deficiencies in protein and minerals are an acute and perpetual problem. This review is meant to assist the food industry to select the most suitable species as well as processing methods for insect-based food products.

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Breed, Michael D., and Thomas D. Seeley. "Behavioral Ecology of a Social Insect." Evolution 40, no. 6 (1986): 1358. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2408965.

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Choudhary, Madhusudan, Joan E. Strassmann, Carlos R. Solís, and David C. Queller. "Microsatellite variation in a social insect." Biochemical Genetics 31, no. 1-2 (1993): 87–96. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/pl00020388.

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Inoue, Maki N., and Yuto Kato. "Risk assessment of social insect bumblebees." Japanese Journal of Pesticide Science 46, no. 2 (2021): 106–11. http://dx.doi.org/10.1584/jpestics.w21-40.

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37

Pamilo, P., and R. H. Crozier. "Population biology of social insect conservation." Memoirs of the Museum of Victoria 56, no. 2 (1997): 411–19. http://dx.doi.org/10.24199/j.mmv.1997.56.32.

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38

Feng, Tao, Zhipeng Qiu, and Yun Kang. "Recruitment Dynamics of Social Insect Colonies." SIAM Journal on Applied Mathematics 81, no. 4 (2021): 1579–99. http://dx.doi.org/10.1137/20m1332384.

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39

Cini, Alessandro, Luca Pietro Casacci, and Volker Nehring. "Uncovering variation in social insect communication." Current Zoology 67, no. 5 (2021): 515–18. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/cz/zoab065.

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40

Breed, Michael D. "BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY OF A SOCIAL INSECT." Evolution 40, no. 6 (1986): 1358. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1558-5646.1986.tb05763.x.

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41

Waters, James S., and Jennifer H. Fewell. "Information Processing in Social Insect Networks." PLoS ONE 7, no. 7 (2012): e40337. http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0040337.

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Farris, Sarah M. "Insect societies and the social brain." Current Opinion in Insect Science 15 (June 2016): 1–8. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cois.2016.01.010.

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Hurst, G. "Selfish genes in a social insect." Trends in Ecology & Evolution 13, no. 11 (1998): 434–35. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s0169-5347(98)01479-7.

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44

Wilson, Edward O. "How to make a social insect." Nature 443, no. 7114 (2006): 919–20. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/443919a.

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Queller, David C., Francesca Zacchi, Rita Cervo, et al. "Unrelated helpers in a social insect." Nature 405, no. 6788 (2000): 784–87. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/35015552.

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46

Choudhary, Madhusudan, Joan E. Strassmann, Carlos R. Solís, and David C. Queller. "Microsatellite variation in a social insect." Biochemical Genetics 31, no. 1-2 (1993): 87–96. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/bf02399822.

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47

Teräs, Ilkka. "Review: Social insects." Entomologica Fennica 2, no. 3 (1991): 190–91. http://dx.doi.org/10.33338/ef.83550.

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Spartano, Sabrina, and Simona Grasso. "Consumers’ Perspectives on Eggs from Insect-Fed Hens: A UK Focus Group Study." Foods 10, no. 2 (2021): 420. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/foods10020420.

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In recent years, there has been growing interest in insects as an alternative to soybean meal as laying hen feed due to nutrition, sustainability, and animal welfare benefits. Although some studies have investigated consumer acceptance and intentions towards insect-fed foodstuffs, no studies are available on eggs from insect-fed hens. This qualitative study aimed to explore consumers’ attitudes and perceptions towards eggs from insect-fed hens and factors influencing intentions to consume and purchase the product. Three focus group discussions were employed with a total of 19 individuals from the UK. Results showed that the environmental, animal welfare, and food waste benefits of feeding hens with insects positively influenced attitudes. Results also indicated price and disgust towards insects as feed were the main barriers, while enhanced welfare standards (e.g., free-range labelling) and information on benefits were main drivers. Therefore, the study suggests that educating and informing consumers about the benefits of feeding hens with insects may increase intentions to consume and purchase eggs from insect-fed hens. Given this emerging area of research, this study contributes to the limited literature on insect-fed foodstuffs and paves the way for further research on the topic.

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Gałęcki, Remigiusz, Tadeusz Bakuła, and Janusz Gołaszewski. "Foodborne Diseases in the Edible Insect Industry in Europe—New Challenges and Old Problems." Foods 12, no. 4 (2023): 770. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/foods12040770.

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Insects play a key role in European agroecosystems. Insects provide important ecosystem services and make a significant contribution to the food chain, sustainable agriculture, the farm-to-fork (F2F) strategy, and the European Green Deal. Edible insects are regarded as a sustainable alternative to livestock, but their microbiological safety for consumers has not yet been fully clarified. The aim of this article is to describe the role of edible insects in the F2F approach, to discuss the latest veterinary guidelines concerning consumption of insect-based foods, and to analyze the biological, chemical, and physical hazards associated with edible insect farming and processing. Five groups of biological risk factors, ten groups of chemical risk factors, and thirteen groups of physical risks factors have been identified and divided into sub-groups. The presented risk maps can facilitate identification of potential threats, such as foodborne pathogens in various insect species and insect-based foods. Ensuring safety of insect-based foods, including effective control of foodborne diseases, will be a significant milestone on the path to maintaining a sustainable food chain in line with the F2F strategy and EU policies. Edible insects constitute a new category of farmed animals and a novel link in the food chain, but their production poses the same problems and challenges that are encountered in conventional livestock rearing and meat production.

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Tavares, Pedro Paulo Lordelo Guimarães, Matheus dos Santos Lima, Luiggi Cavalcanti Pessôa, et al. "Innovation in Alternative Food Sources: A Review of a Technological State-of-the-Art of Insects in Food Products." Foods 11, no. 23 (2022): 3792. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/foods11233792.

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Insects present great potential for the food industry due to their easier rearing conditions and high nutritional value, in comparison with traditional livestock. However, there is a lack of evaluation of the technological status of food products developed with edible insects. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the emergent technological and scientific applications of edible insects in the food industry through a prospective study of patent documents and research articles. Espacenet was used as a research tool, applying the terms Insect, Pupa, Larva, or Nymph and the codes A23L33 and A23V2002. A total of 1139 documents were found—341 were related to the study. Orbit® was used to evaluate technological domains and clusters of concepts. Scopus database research was performed to assess the prevalence of insect research, with the term “edible and insect*”. The main insects used were silkworms, bees, beetles, mealworms, crickets, and cicadas. Protein isolates were the predominant technology, as they function as an ingredient in food products or supplements. A diverse application possibility for insects was found due to their nutritional composition. The insect market is expected to increase significantly in the next years, representing an opportunity to develop novel high-quality/sustainable products.

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