The phenotypic effects of JNK inhibition may be due in part to inhibition of IIS in the A. stephensi midgut, which we have previously associated with lifespan extension and resistance to parasite infection and which also reaffirms our observations of IIS-MAPK signaling cross-talk in the A. stephensi midgut [20, 22]. Here, MAPK8 is linked to parasitic infectious disease.