PLSC 311 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Superorganism, Apidae, Eusociality
Lecture 2: Social insects and their characteristics
Basic purpose of a social organization (society) in insects has evolved to increase the efficiency
of individuals through a division of labor and as a way to extend the lifespans of the female
- The colony tends to function as one individual
- The colony is referred to as a super organism
The colony itself gathers and consumes food, grows and reproduces, protects itself, seldom
does the colony die
- Sometimes by starvation the colony can die, also disease can cause the colony to die
- Although individual members of the colony will continually die and are replaced, such
that a colony becomes perennial (living onward from year to year even when individuals
have died)
According to E.O. Wilson there are three criteria to be met to be considered a truly social insect
species:
1. Cooperative brood care: Members of the society look after immature stages other then
their own
oIndividuals insect takes care of immatures (brood stages) other then its own
2. Presence of castes: find at least two different size/types of females, that perform a
division of labor
oExample: in honey bees we have one caste as the queen and then another as the
workers
Queen: usually alone in laying eggs and performed no other tasks
Workers: perform a wide variety of tasks including taking care of brood
stages, foraging for nectar and pollen, building beeswax combs, guarding
the hive entrance
3. Overlap in generation: instead of leaving when they become adults, the adult offspring
stay inside the colony to assist their parents
oExample: feeding the queen
oAs well as previous generations of worker bees caring for the queen and her
brood
There are ants that will on purpose cute pieces of leaves and then will carry the leaves to the
colony and will cultivate a fungus that grows on the leave pieces
- When they do this the ants will be carrying one smaller ant will ride on top of the leaf
piece and larger ants carry them to the colony
Social insects:
-Bees
-Wasps
-Ants
-Termites
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Basic purpose of a social organization (society) in insects has evolved to increase the efficiency of individuals through a division of labor and as a way to extend the lifespans of the female. The colony tends to function as one individual. The colony is referred to as a super organism. The colony itself gathers and consumes food, grows and reproduces, protects itself, seldom does the colony die. Sometimes by starvation the colony can die, also disease can cause the colony to die. Although individual members of the colony will continually die and are replaced, such that a colony becomes perennial (living onward from year to year even when individuals have died) Queen: usually alone in laying eggs and performed no other tasks. There are ants that will on purpose cute pieces of leaves and then will carry the leaves to the colony and will cultivate a fungus that grows on the leave pieces.
