Social evolution and casteless societies: needs for new terminology and a new evolutionary focus

Dew, Rebecca M.; Tierney, Simon M.; Schwarz, Michael P.

doi:10.1007/s00040-015-0435-1

Cited by 30 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 58 publications

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“…Euglossini however do not exhibit eusocial species but are rather primitively eusocial with overlapping generation, subordination but lacks non-reproductive workers (Kocher & Paxton, 2014). In communal Euglossini species, as it was described previously Cameron 2004;Otero et al 2008), individuals share the same nest cavity with no interaction or alloparental care between the nestmates (da Silva et al, 2016;Dew et al, 2016). Yet primitively eusocial orchid bee species show overlapping generations, some division of labour, dominance behaviour, offspring control through oophagy (Cocom-Pech et al, 2008;Augusto & Garofalo, 2009; and may present subordinate female specialization in guarding the nest entrance (Boff et al, 2015).…”

Section: Research Article -Beesmentioning

confidence: 96%

Multiple Aggressions Among Nestmates Lead to Weak Dominance Hampering Primitively Eusocial Behaviour in an Orchid Bee

Boff¹,

Saito²,

Santos³

2017

Sociobiology

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Reproductive conflict expressed as aggression is common in social Hymenoptera. In eusocial species, as in honeybees, several mechanisms alleviate the conflicts and reduce aggressive interactions. Unlike their sister group, the orchid bees do not exhibit eusociality. Instead, most of the species seem to have lost sociality and some species have retained vestigial social behaviour. In the current study we investigated the aggressive interactions of females of Euglossa annectans Dressler through five generations of phylopatry and reuse of the natal nest. Although network analysis indicates that central individuals, those with more interactions, were more commonly the aggressors and others were more commonly the recipients, multiple attacks and several potential dominant female within the nest indicated a labile sociality. This suggests that there is an unstable social hierarchy in the species. Euglossa annectans, despite having overlapping generations, during which several individuals share a nest, there is no division of labour into reproductive and interactions are often competitive. Aggressive behaviours conducted by multiple fertile females were often followed by egg, larvae or pupae replacement.

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Section: Research Article -Beesmentioning

confidence: 96%

Multiple Aggressions Among Nestmates Lead to Weak Dominance Hampering Primitively Eusocial Behaviour in an Orchid Bee

Boff¹,

Saito²,

Santos³

2017

Sociobiology

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“…However, the applicability of one term (i.e. caste) to describe societal coordination across all species has been questioned and much of the terminology surrounding castes remains misleading [1,9,[13][14][15].…”

Section: Defining Caste and Why It Mattersmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, without detailed knowledge of the plasticity of castes in a species, this definition is of limited practical use. Moreover, does this mean that species without developmentally determined roles lack 'real castes' [13]? We require a set of traits that are readily quantifiable in order to accurately describe castes, and use this to categorise a species in relation to its level in the evolution of social complexity.…”

Section: Defining Caste and Why It Mattersmentioning

confidence: 99%

A molecular concept of caste in insect societies

Sumner

Bell

Taylor

2018

Current Opinion in Insect Science

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The term 'caste' is used to describe the division of reproductive labour that defines eusocial insect societies. The definition of 'caste' has been debated over the last 50 years, specifically with respect to the simplest insect societies; this raises the question of whether a simple categorisation of social behaviour by reproductive state alone is helpful. Gene-level analyses of behaviours of individuals in hymenopteran social insect societies now provide a new empirical base-line for defining caste and understanding the evolution and maintenance of a reproductive division of labour. We review this literature to identify a set of potential molecular signatures that, combined with behavioural, morphological and physiological data, help define caste more precisely; these signatures vary with the type of society, and are likely to be influenced by ecology, life-history, and stage in the colony cycle. We conclude that genomic approaches provide us with additional ways to help quantify and categorise caste, and behaviour in general.

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“…Although the nesting biology for the two species in our study has not been described, there are currently no known eusocial species of Nomiinae, and roughly half of the nomiine species studied to date are thought to be social (reviewed by Michener 1969;Michener 2007;Wcislo & Engel 1996), with casteless social organisation in some lineages (as defined by Dew et al (2016)), and only two species showing potential for semisocial organisation (Batra 1966). Although the nesting biology for the two species in our study has not been described, there are currently no known eusocial species of Nomiinae, and roughly half of the nomiine species studied to date are thought to be social (reviewed by Michener 1969;Michener 2007;Wcislo & Engel 1996), with casteless social organisation in some lineages (as defined by Dew et al (2016)), and only two species showing potential for semisocial organisation (Batra 1966).…”

Section: Study Speciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Bees from the halictid subfamily Nomiinae are typically ground nesting. Although the nesting biology for the two species in our study has not been described, there are currently no known eusocial species of Nomiinae, and roughly half of the nomiine species studied to date are thought to be social (reviewed by Michener 1969;Michener 2007;Wcislo & Engel 1996), with casteless social organisation in some lineages (as defined by Dew et al (2016)), and only two species showing potential for semisocial organisation (Batra 1966).…”

Section: Study Speciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Antennal asymmetry is not associated with social behaviour in Australian Hymenoptera

et al. 2018

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Lateralisation of biological form and function are well known for vertebrates and are being increasingly documented among invertebrates in recent years. Behavioural lateralisation in insects, together with asymmetrical distributions of antennal sensilla, has been linked to the communication challenges faced by social, but not solitary, insects. Recent evidence on patterns of asymmetry in insects outside of the Hymenoptera suggests that this explanation for antennal sensilla asymmetry may not be phylogenetically constrained. We explore this possibility by examining the distribution of antennal sensilla in three species of ants (Formicidae), the meat ant Iridomyrmex purpureus (Dolichoderinae), the green tree ant Oecophylla smaragdina (Formicinae) and the shield ant Meranoplus sp. (Myrmicinae) in which colony organisation is eusocial, and two species of nomiine bees, Mellitidia tomentifera and Reepenia bituberculata (Halictidae: Nomiinae), where colony organisation is not eusocial. Our results demonstrate that while there are differences in the left-right asymmetry of antennal sensilla basiconica in workers of the formicine ant I. purpureus, there is no consistent sensilla asymmetry across the five species. We find a negative correlation between antennal sensilla density and body size in R. bituberculata, which was not apparent in the other species. Our results contradict the suggestion that asymmetrical distribution of antennal sensilla is associated with the evolution of eusocial behaviour.

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Social evolution and casteless societies: needs for new terminology and a new evolutionary focus

Cited by 30 publications

References 58 publications

Multiple Aggressions Among Nestmates Lead to Weak Dominance Hampering Primitively Eusocial Behaviour in an Orchid Bee

Multiple Aggressions Among Nestmates Lead to Weak Dominance Hampering Primitively Eusocial Behaviour in an Orchid Bee

A molecular concept of caste in insect societies

Antennal asymmetry is not associated with social behaviour in Australian Hymenoptera

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