Under pressure: The insect immune response to anthropogenic change

Insects perform vital ecological functions as pollinators, herbivores, decomposers, and natural enemies, yet they are increasingly threatened by anthropogenic pressures that alter their physiology, immunity, and population dynamics. Habitat loss, agricultural intensification, chemical pollutants, and rising temperature extremes are reshaping the selective landscape in which insect immune systems evolved. Eco-immunology provides a conceptual bridge linking individual physiological responses to broader ecological and evolutionary outcomes. However, the field has yet to fully integrate how multiple, interacting environmental stressors influence immune investment, pathogen susceptibility, and fitness. Understanding these links is essential for predicting how insect populations will persist and function in a rapidly changing world.This Research Topic seeks to synthesize emerging insights into how anthropogenic stress modifies insect immune function and disease ecology. We aim to highlight integrative studies on insect non-model systems, that connect mechanistic immune responses to ecological performance, reproductive trade-offs, and survival under variable environments. Contributions that explore how nutrition, temperature, pollutants, or habitat fragmentation shape host–pathogen interactions are particularly encouraged. Recent advances in molecular, metabolomic, and behavioural approaches now allow researchers to trace the cascade from environmental stress to immune modulation and ultimately to population-level outcomes. We welcome Original Research, Reviews, Mini Reviews, Short Communications, and Perspective articles that address the ecological and evolutionary consequences of environmental stress on insect (non-model) immunity. Submissions may include, but are not limited to, the following themes:• Nutritional and resource quality effects on immune performance and disease resistance• Thermal stress, heat waves, and climate variability as modulators of insect immunity• Impacts of pesticides, pollutants, and other contaminants on immune homeostasis• Trade-offs between immunity, reproduction, and longevity under environmental stress• Evolutionary and ecological dynamics of host–pathogen interactions in changing environments• Integrative models linking physiological stress responses to population and community resilience Topic editors: Enakshi Ghosh, Jorge Contreras-Garduño, Ioannis Eleftherianos Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/82966/under-pressure-the-insect-immune-response-to-anthropogenic-change