How frequently are insects wounded in the wild? A case study using Drosophila melanogaster

Abstract

Wounding occurs across multicellular organisms. Wounds can affect host mobility and reproduction, with ecological consequences for competitive interactions and predator–prey dynamics. Wounds are also entry points for pathogens. An immune response is activated upon injury, resulting in the deposition of the brown-black pigment melanin in insects. Despite the abundance of immunity studies in the laboratory and the potential ecological and evolutionary implications of wounding, the prevalence of wounding in wild-collected insects is rarely systematically explored. We investigated the prevalence and potential causes of wounds in wild-collected Drosophilidae flies. We found that 31% of Drosophila melanogaster were wounded or damaged. The abdomen was the most frequently wounded body part, and females were more likely to have melanized patches on the ventral abdomen, compared with males. Encapsulated parasitoid egg frequency was approximately 10%, and just under 1% of Drosophilidae species had attached mites, which also caused wounds. Wounding is prevalent in D. melanogaster, likely exerting selection pressure on host immunity for two reasons: on a rapid and efficient wound repair and on responding efficiently to opportunistic infections. Wounding is thus expected to be an important driver of immune system evolution and to affect individual fitness and population dynamics.