Meeting Abstract
Individuals differ greatly in their propensity to transmit parasites (i.e. host competence); 20% of individuals are often responsible for 80% of transmission events, justifying the new moniker, superspreader. Such differences are underlain by at least two groups of traits: i) the physiological factors that mitigate parasite reproductive success and the host defenses against parasites, and ii) the behaviors that influence how hosts cope with infections and are exposed to parasites in the first place. In spite a growing recognition for a role of superspreaders in the emergence and spread of many diseases, we still know little about what traits comprise them. Here, we investigated the organization of behavioral defenses against vector-borne diseases in a songbird. We first sought to reveal how behaviors that impact exposure (i.e., general activity, timing of activity, response to novelty, and active and passive behaviors directed at live mosquitoes) are correlated within individuals; strong positive covaration among particular behaviors could dispose some individuals to act as superspreaders. We also queried plasticity in behavior involved in competence, as flexibility could enable individuals to augment or damp their potential to generate new infections upon subsequent exposures. Lastly, we investigated how their brains responded to mosquito exposure in order to identify the brain regions responsible for processing this stimulus, and to determine whether neural variation underlies individual differences in anti-vector behavior.
