The Superorganism: The Beauty, Elegance, and the Strangeness of Insect Societies

The Pulitzer Prize-winning authors of The Ants render the extraordinary lives of the social insects in this visually spectacular volume.The Superorganism promises to be one of the most important scientific works published in this decade. Coming eighteen years after the publication of The Ants, this new volume expands our knowledge of the social insects (among them, ants, bees, wasps, and termites) and is based on remarkable research conducted mostly within the last two decades. These superorganisms—a tightly knit colony of individuals, formed by altruistic cooperation, complex communication, and division of labor—represent one of the basic stages of biological organization, midway between the organism and the entire species. The study of the superorganism, as the authors demonstrate, has led to important advances in our understanding of how the transitions between such levels have occurred in evolution and how life as a whole has progressed from simple to complex forms. Ultimately, this book provides a deep look into a part of the living world hitherto glimpsed by only a very few. 110 color, 100 black-and-white NOTE TO THE GENERAL READER xvi CHAPTER 1 THE CONSTRUCTION OF A SUPERORGANISM 3 Why Colonies Are Superior 5 The Construction of Superorganisms 6 The Levels of Organization 7 Eusociality and the Superorganism 8 A Brief History of Insect Sociobiology 10 CHAPTER 2 GENETIC SOCIAL EVOLUTION 15 An Abridged History of the Genetic Theory of Social Evolution 16 Multilevel Natural Selection 24 The Evolution of Eusociality 29 Crossing the Eusociality Threshold 31 Countervailing Forces of Selection 42 Passing the Point of No Return 42 CHAPTER 3 SOCIOGENESIS 51 The Colony Life Cycle 53 Social Algorithms 53 Self-Organization and Emergence 58 Phylogenetic Inertia and Dynamic Selection 60 CHAPTER 4 THE GENETIC EVOLUTION OF DECISION RULES The Genetic Origin and Further Evolution of Eusociality Sociogenetics and Sociogenomics Honeybee Sociogenomics Sociogenomic Conservation The Fire Ant Case Genetic Variation and Phenotypic Plasticity CHAPTER 5 THE DIVISION OF LABOR Parallels: Organism and Superorganism The Ecology of Caste Systems The Evolution of Caste: Principles Dominance Orders in Caste Determination Temporal Castes The Physiology of Temporal Castes Genetic Variability in Caste Differentiation Memory in Division of Labor Task Switching and Behavior Plasticity Child Labor Genetic Caste Determination Nongenetic Caste Determination Worker Subcastes The Physiology and Evolution of Physical Castes Adaptive Demography Teamwork The Larger Picture CHAPTER 6 COMMUNICATION Dance Communication in Honeybees Communication in Ant Societies The Evolution of Ant Recruitment Signals and Trail Guides Design and Functional Efficiency of Pheromones Behavioral Modes of Recruitment Communication The Extreme Multiple Recruitment System of Weaver Ants Multimodal Signals, Parsimony, and Ritualization [Page XII] Message and Meaning 229 Modulatory Communication 231 Motor Displays in Recruitment Communication 235 Environmental Correlates of Recruitment Systems 247 The Measurement of Information 251 Tactile Communication and Trophallaxis 252 The Social Bucket 259 Visual Communication 267 Anonymity and Specificity of Chemical Signals 270 Necrophoric Behavior 273 Nestmate Recognition 275 Within-Colony Recognition 288 Recognition of Brood 299 Communicating Resource-Holding Potential Among Colonies 301 Conclusion 309 CHAPTER 7 THE RISE OF THE ANTS 313 The Origin of Ants 315 The Early Radiation of the Ants 318 The Cenozoic Radiation 320 The Ponerine Paradox 322 The Tropical Arboreal Ants 328 The Dynastic-Succession Hypothesis 330 CHAPTER 8 PONERINE ANTS: THE GREAT RADIATION 333 The Social Regulation of Reproduction 334 Harpegnathos: Life Cycle of a Colonial Architect 336 Dinoponera: Giant "Worker Queens" 355 Queens, Workers, Gamergates in Permutations 364 Diacamma: Regulating Reproduction by Mutilation 366 Streblognathus: Dominance and Fertility Uncoupled 373 Gamergates versus Ergatoid Queens 376 Pachycondyla fochi: Mass Termite Raiders 378 Ergatoid Queens and Army Ants 380 Pachycondyla: Sociobiologically the Most Diverse Ant Genus 382 [Page XIII] Platythyrea punctata: Extreme Plasticity in Reproduction 394 Aggression and Dominance: Origin and Loss 397 Harpegnathos: Resilience in Reproductive Behavior 397 Colony Size as an Ecological Adaptation 398 Pachycondyla: Hyperdiversity Summarized 404 CHAPTER 9 THE ATTINE LEAFCUTTERS: THE ULTIMATE SUPERORGANISMS 407 The Attine Breakthrough 408 The Ascent of the Leafcutters 411 The Atta Life Cycle 412 The Atta Caste System 426 Harvesting Vegetation 430 Communication in Atta 439 The Ant-Fungus Mutualism 445 Hygiene in the Symbiosis 449 Waste Management 454 Agropredators and Agroparasites 456 Leafcutter Nests 457 Trails and Trunk Routes 463 CHAPTER 10 NEST ARCHITECTURE AND HOUSE HUNTING 469 The Analysis of Nest Architecture 470 How Architecture Is Achieved 473 The Process of Stigmergy 479 House Hunting and Colony Emigration 481 EPILOGUE 501 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 503 GLOSSARY 505 INDEX 515 The Pulitzer Prize-winning authors of The Ants render the extraordinary lives of the social insects in this visually spectacular volume. The Superorganism promises to be one of the most important scientific works published in this decade. Coming eighteen years after the publication of The Ants , this new volume expands our knowledge of the social insects (among them, ants, bees, wasps, and termites) and is based on remarkable research conducted mostly within the last two decades. These superorganismsa tightly knit colony of individuals, formed by altruistic cooperation, complex communication, and division of laborrepresent one of the basic stages of biological organization, midway between the organism and the entire species. The study of the superorganism, as the authors demonstrate, has led to important advances in our understanding of how the transitions between such levels have occurred in evolution and how life as a whole has progressed from simple to complex forms. Ultimately, this book provides a deep look into a part of the living world hitherto glimpsed by only a very few.110 color, 100 black-and-white

The Superorganism promises to be one of the most important scientific works published in this decade. Coming eighteen years after the publication of The Ants, this new volume expands our knowledge of the social insects (among them, ants, bees, wasps, and termites) and is based on remarkable research conducted mostly within the last two decades. These superorganisms—a tightly knit colony of individuals, formed by altruistic cooperation, complex communication, and division of labor—represent one of the basic stages of biological organization, midway between the organism and the entire species. The study of the superorganism, as the authors demonstrate, has led to important advances in our understanding of how the transitions between such levels have occurred in evolution and how life as a whole has progressed from simple to complex forms. Ultimately, this book provides a deep look into a part of the living world hitherto glimpsed by only a very few.

"The Pulitzer Prize-winning authors of Ants present a lavishly detailed account of the extraordinary lives of social insects that draws on more than two decades of research and offers insight into how bees, termites, and other insect societies thrive in systems of altruistic cooperation, complex communication, and labor division."-- Résumé de l'éditeur The Pulitzer Prize-winning authors of Ants present a lavishly detailed account of the extraordinary lives of social insects that draws on more than two decades of research and offers insight into how bees, termites, and other insect societies thrive in systems of altruistic cooperation, complex communication, and labor division. 50,000 first printing. Presents a detailed account of the extraordinary lives of social insects, offering insight into how bees, termites, and other insect societies thrive in systems of altruistic cooperation, complex communication, and labor division.