Based on their increased expression of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) and other immune components such as TEP1, these cell populations may have a primary role in the hemocyte-mediated immune responses that limit bacteria (Hillyer et al., 2003a; Reynolds et al., 2020) or the recognition and killing of malaria parasites (Castillo et al., 2017; Kwon and Smith, 2019). Here, TEP1 is linked to malaria.