Organization of Insect Societies: From Genome to Sociocomplexity

by Jürgen Gadau, Jennifer Fewell, Edward O. Wilson

Overview

In this landmark volume, an international group of scientists has synthesized their collective expertise and insight into a newly unified vision of insect societies and what they can reveal about how sociality has arisen as an evolutionary strategy.

Jürgen Gadau and Jennifer Fewell have assembled leading researchers from the fields of molecular biology, evolutionary genetics, neurophysiology, behavioral ecology, and evolutionary theory to reexamine the question of sociality in insects. Recent advances in social complexity theory and the sequencing of the honeybee genome ensure that this book will be valued by anyone working on sociality in insects. At the same time, the theoretical ideas presented will be of broad-ranging significance to those interested in social evolution and complex systems.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780674031258
Publisher:	Harvard University Press
Publication date:	02/28/2009
Pages:	640
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.60(d)

About the Author

Jürgen Gadau is Assistant Professor of Life Sciences, Arizona State University.

Jennifer Fewell is Associate Professor of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, and Co-Director of the Center for Social Dynamics and Complexity.

Edward O. Wilson was Pellegrino University Professor, Emeritus, at Harvard University. In addition to two Pulitzer Prizes (one of which he shares with Bert Hölldobler), Wilson has won many scientific awards, including the National Medal of Science and the Crafoord Prize of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

Table of Contents

• Foreword by E. O. Wilson
• Acknowledgments

I. Transitions in Social Evolution
Introduction by Jürgen Gadau
1. The Evolution of Social Insect Mating Systems Jacobus J. Boomsma, Daniel J. C. Kronauer, and Jes S. Pedersen
2. The Evolution of Queen Numbers in Ants: From One to Many and Back Jürgen Heinze and Susanne Foitzik
3. Aging of Social Insects Olav Rueppell
4. The Ecological Setting of Social Evolution: The Demography of Ant Populations Blaine J. Cole
5. Control of Termite Caste Differentiation Colin S. Brent
6. Termites: An Alternative Road to Eusociality and the Importance of Group Benefits in Social Insects Judith Korb
7. The Evolution of Communal Behavior in Bees and Wasps: An Alternative to Eusociality William T. Wcislo and Simon M. Tierney

II. Communication
Introduction by Tomas D. Seeley
8. Cue Diversity and Social Recognition Michael D. Breed and Robert Buchwald
9. Adaptations in the Olfactory System of Social Hymenoptera Christoph J. Kleineidam and Wolfgang Rössler
10. Fertility Signaling as a General Mechanism of Regulating Reproductive Division of Labor in Ants Christian Peeters and Jürgen Liebig
11. Vibrational Signals in Social Wasps: A Role in Caste Determination? Robert L. Jeanne
12. Convergent Evolution of Food Recruitment Mechanism in Bees and Wasps James C. Nieh
13. The Organization of Social Foraging in Ants: Energetics and Communication Flavio Roces

III. Neurogenetic Basis of Social Behavior
Introduction by Robert E. Page Jr.
14. Behavioral Genetics in Social Insects Greg J. Hunt and Jürgen Gadau
15. Sensory Thresholds, Learning, and the Division of Foraging Labor in the Honeybee Ricarda Scheiner and Joachim Erber
16. Social Life from Solitary Regulatory Networks: A Paradigm for Insect Sociality Robert E. Page Jr., Timothy A. Linksvayer, and Gro V. Amdam
17. Social Brains and Behavior, Past and Present Wulfila Gronenberg and Andre J. Riveros
18. Plasticity in the Circadian Clock and the Temporal Organization of Insect Societies Guy Bloch

IV. Theoretical Perspectives on Social Organization
Introduction by Jennifer Fewell
19. The Dawn of a Golden Age in Mathematical Insect Sociobiology Nigel R. Franks, Anna Dornhaus, James A.ºR. Marshall, and Francois-Xavier Dechaume Moncharmont
20. Positive Feedback, Convergent Collective Patterns, and Social Transitions in Arthropods Raphaël Jeanson and Jean-Louis Deneubourg
21. Division of Labor in the Context of Complexity Jennifer Fewell, Shana K. Schmidt, and Thomas Taylor
22. Insect Societies as Models for Collective Decision-Making Stephen Pratt
23. From Social Behavior to Molecules: Models and Modules in the Middle Gene E. Robinson and Andrew B. Barron
24. Social Insects as Models in Epidemiology: Establishing the Foundation for an Interdisciplinary Approach to Disease and Sociality Nina H. Fefferman and James F.ºA. Traniello
25. Social Insects and the Individuality Thesis: Cohesion and the Colony as a Selectable Individual Andrew Hamilton, Nathan R. Smith, and Matthew H. Haber
26. Social Insects, Evo-Devo, and the Novelty Problem: The Advantage of “Natural Experiments” Sensu Boveri Jürgen Gadau and Manfred Laubichler

• Index

What People are Saying About This

A major theme of biology in the present century, perhaps the major theme, is the nature and evolutionary origin of the transitions across levels of organization. The most transparent of the transitions, greater than that for example from molecule to cell or species to ecosystem, is organism to superorganism, the level reached when societies are tightly bound by altruism and division of labor. One of the major advances of the half century has been the demonstration, well illustrated in the present volume, of how the transition is made through the emergence of colony-level traits…The authors of each chapter of Organization of Insect Societies: From Genome to Sociocomplexity are among the most productive researchers on the subjects they address. The overall picture they assemble is of a discipline that has grown exponentially during the past half century, and at publication time shows no sign of slacking off. The book is thus at once a history, a dispatch from the research front, and a vision as accurate as can be made of future advances in the study of social insects."

from the Foreword by E. O. Wilson

from the Foreword by Edward O. Wilson

A major theme of biology in the present century, perhaps the major theme, is the nature and evolutionary origin of the transitions across levels of organization. The most transparent of the transitions, greater than that for example from molecule to cell or species to ecosystem, is organism to superorganism, the level reached when societies are tightly bound by altruism and division of labor. One of the major advances of the half century has been the demonstration, well illustrated in the present volume, of how the transition is made through the emergence of colony-level traits…The authors of each chapter of Organization of Insect Societies: From Genome to Sociocomplexity are among the most productive researchers on the subjects they address. The overall picture they assemble is of a discipline that has grown exponentially during the past half century, and at publication time shows no sign of slacking off. The book is thus at once a history, a dispatch from the research front, and a vision as accurate as can be made of future advances in the study of social insects."

from the Foreword by E. O. Wilson

Editorial Reviews

The book's 26 chapters, written by leading scientists in various fields, present the latest conceptual trends in insect sociobiology...They clearly illustrate the advances concerning the nature and evolutionary origin of transitions across levels of organization which are relevant to the discipline, and reexamine the issue of the origin of sociality in various insect groups. The concepts and insights explored make this volume invaluable to anyone working/interested in the study of sociality in insects.

Choice - J. M. Gonzalez

A major theme of biology in the present century, perhaps the major theme, is the nature and evolutionary origin of the transitions across levels of organization. The most transparent of the transitions, greater than that for example from molecule to cell or species to ecosystem, is organism to superorganism, the level reached when societies are tightly bound by altruism and division of labor. One of the major advances of the half century has been the demonstration, well illustrated in the present volume, of how the transition is made through the emergence of colony-level traits…The authors of each chapter of Organization of Insect Societies: From Genome to Sociocomplexity are among the most productive researchers on the subjects they address. The overall picture they assemble is of a discipline that has grown exponentially during the past half century, and at publication time shows no sign of slacking off. The book is thus at once a history, a dispatch from the research front, and a vision as accurate as can be made of future advances in the study of social insects." from the Foreword by E. O. Wilson

from the Foreword by Edward O. Wilson

A major theme of biology in the present century, perhaps the major theme, is the nature and evolutionary origin of the transitions across levels of organization. The most transparent of the transitions, greater than that for example from molecule to cell or species to ecosystem, is organism to superorganism, the level reached when societies are tightly bound by altruism and division of labor. One of the major advances of the half century has been the demonstration, well illustrated in the present volume, of how the transition is made through the emergence of colony-level traits…The authors of each chapter of Organization of Insect Societies: From Genome to Sociocomplexity are among the most productive researchers on the subjects they address. The overall picture they assemble is of a discipline that has grown exponentially during the past half century, and at publication time shows no sign of slacking off. The book is thus at once a history, a dispatch from the research front, and a vision as accurate as can be made of future advances in the study of social insects."
from the Foreword by E. O. Wilson

From The Foreword By Edward O. Wilson

The book's 26 chapters, written by leading scientists in various fields, present the latest conceptual trends in insect sociobiology...They clearly illustrate the advances concerning the nature and evolutionary origin of transitions across levels of organization which are relevant to the discipline, and reexamine the issue of the origin of sociality in various insect groups. The concepts and insights explored make this volume invaluable to anyone working/interested in the study of sociality in insects.
— J. M. Gonzalez

Choice