Data from: Pleiotropic effects of juvenile hormone in ant queens and the escape from the reproduction-immunocompetence trade-off

The ubiquitous trade-off between survival and costly reproduction is one
of the most fundamental constraints governing life-history evolution. In
numerous animals, gonadotropic hormones antagonistically suppressing
immunocompetence cause this trade-off. The queens of many social insects
defy the reproduction-survival trade-off, achieving both an
extraordinarily long life and high reproductive output, but how they
achieve this is unknown. Here we show experimentally, by integrating
quantification of gene expression, physiology and behaviour, that the
long-lived queens of the ant Lasius niger have escaped the
reproduction-immunocompetence trade-off by decoupling the effects of a key
endocrine regulator of fertility and immunocompetence in solitary insects,
juvenile hormone (JH). This modification of the regulatory architecture
enables queens to sustain a high reproductive output without elevated JH
titres and suppressed immunocompetence, providing an escape from the
reproduction-immunocompetence trade-off that may contribute to the
extraordinary lifespan of many social insect queens.