Understanding the molecular basis of how behavioural states are established, maintained
and altered by environmental cues is an area of considerable and growing interest …

Study of social traits in offspring traditionally reflects on interactions in simple family groups,
with famous examples including parent-offspring conflict and sibling rivalry in birds and …

Comprising a substantial part of living biomass on earth, ants are integral to the functioning
of terrestrial ecosystems. More than 12,000 species have been described to date, and it is …

We report the draft genome sequence of the red harvester ant, Pogonomyrmex barbatus.
The genome was sequenced using 454 pyrosequencing, and the current assembly and …

The selective forces that shape and maintain eusocial societies are an enduring puzzle in
evolutionary biology. Ordinarily sterile workers can usually reproduce given the right …

Obligate endosymbiosis, in which distantly related species integrate to form a single
replicating individual, represents a major evolutionary transition in individuality,–. Although …

Ant colonies are higher-level organisms consisting of specialized reproductive and non-
reproductive individuals that differentiate early in development, similar to germ–soma …

Division of labor is a hallmark characteristic of social insect colonies. While it is understood
that worker differentiation is regulated through either the queen or her brood, the …

The social organization of insect colonies indicates the importance of information that is
usually not needed in solitary insects. Information about the presence and fertility of a queen …

The hallmark of eusociality is the reproductive division of labour, in which one female caste
reproduces, while reproduction is constrained in the subordinate caste. In adult worker …