Major Evolutionary Transitions in Social Insects, the Importance of Worker Sterility and Life History Trade-Offs

被引:14
作者
Bernadou, Abel [1 ]
Kramer, Boris H. [2 ]
Korb, Judith [3 ]
机构
[1] Univ Regensburg, Dept Zool & Evolutionary Biol, Regensburg, Germany
[2] Univ Groningen, Fac Sci & Engn, Theoret Res Evolutionary Life Sci, Groningen, Netherlands
[3] Univ Freiburg, Inst Biol Zool 1, Dept Evolutionary Biol & Ecol, Freiburg, Germany
来源
FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION | 2021年 / 9卷
关键词
ants; bees; life history trade-off; major evolutionary transitions; social evolution; superorganism; social insects; termites; MULTILEVEL SELECTION; INCLUSIVE FITNESS; COLONY SIZE; COMPLEXITY; CONFLICT; LABOR; SPAN; ANTS;
D O I
10.3389/fevo.2021.732907
中图分类号
Q14 [生态学(生物生态学)];
学科分类号
071012 ; 0713 ;
摘要
The evolution of eusociality in social insects, such as termites, ants, and some bees and wasps, has been regarded as a major evolutionary transition (MET). Yet, there is some debate whether all species qualify. Here, we argue that worker sterility is a decisive criterion to determine whether species have passed a MET (= superorganisms), or not. When workers are sterile, reproductive interests align among group members as individual fitness is transferred to the colony level. Division of labour among cooperating units is a major driver that favours the evolution of METs across all biological scales. Many METs are characterised by a differentiation into reproductive versus maintenance functions. In social insects, the queen specialises on reproduction while workers take over maintenance functions such as food provisioning. Such division of labour allows specialisation and it reshapes life history trade-offs among cooperating units. For instance, individuals within colonies of social insects can overcome the omnipresent fecundity/longevity trade-off, which limits reproductive success in organisms, when increased fecundity shortens lifespan. Social insect queens (particularly in superorganismal species) can reach adult lifespans of several decades and are among the most fecund terrestrial animals. The resulting enormous reproductive output may contribute to explain why some genera of social insects became so successful. Indeed, superorganismal ant lineages have more species than those that have not passed a MET. We conclude that the release from life history constraints at the individual level is a important, yet understudied, factor across METs to explain their evolutionary success.
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页数:7
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