Editorial overview: Social insects: The internal rules of ant societies
نویسندگان
چکیده
The evolution of eusociality, defined as the emergence of societies with reproductive division of labour, overlapping generations, and cooperative care of young, is considered one of the major transitions in evolution and the basis of the tremendous ecological success of social insects (ants, some bees and wasps, termites) [1,2]. However, the organisation of individuals into highly cooperative societies requires the existence of intricate regulation mechanisms to ensure successful growth, survival and reproduction of the colony. The reviews in this issue present recent advances on several such mechanisms, and highlight multiple levels of complexity in the organisation and functioning of social insect colonies.
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