Caste development and evolution in ants: it's all about size.

Abstract excerpt

Female ants display a wide variety of morphological castes, including workers, soldiers, ergatoid (worker-like) queens and queens. Alternative caste development within a species arises from a variable array of genetic and environmental factors. Castes themselves are also variable across species and have been repeatedly gained and lost throughout the evolutionary history of ants. Here, we propose a simple theory...

Topics

Share this publication in a Topic to start or enrich a Post.

• Share to Ants
• Share to Biological Evolution
• Share to Body Size