Inter- and trans-generational immune priming in invertebrates has mostly been studied through changes in average offspring fitness, while variation among offspring responses has received far less attention. Yet such variation is biologically important, because it shapes how consistently offspring express immunity- and resistance-related traits and may influence ecological and evolutionary dynamics. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of published studies on immune priming across generations in invertebrates, with a particular focus on whether parental pathogen exposure alters among-individual variance in offspring traits.
