Insect societies are characterized by individual differences among group members. Colony members can typically be separated into distinct classes that play different roles in group function. These behaviorally distinct classes are called castes. Castes likely represent one of the key evolutionary adaptations of social insects that contributed to their unprecedented ecological success. Behavioral differences among castes can arise from diverse underlying mechanisms; in different lineages castes are associated with morphological, physiological, and/or genetic variation. A fundamental caste division relates to reproduction: insect societies include fecund reproductive members (often referred to as queens for the females, and kings for males when they are present) and relatively sterile helpers (referred to as workers). Workers can further specialize into categories called subcastes.
Castes involve specialization. Within a colony, members of different castes usually perform partially...
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O’Donnell, S. (2020). Caste, Social Insects. In: Starr, C. (eds) Encyclopedia of Social Insects. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90306-4_188-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90306-4_188-1
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