Evolution of Social Insect Colonies: Sex Allocation and Kin Selection / Edition 1

by Ross H. Crozier, Pekka Pamilo

Overview

Colonial living is characterized by division of labor and finely coordinated organization; however, many events within a colony are the result of conflicts between individuals seeking to maximize their own interests. This interplay of cooperation and conflict has raised many questions in evolutionary biology, especially how cooperative behavior is maintained in the absence of direct reproduction by workers. How, then, is this behavior passed on? Authors Crozier and Pamilo's analyze the genetic basis of the patterns of reproduction and resource allocation found in social insect colonies - bees, wasps, ants, and termites. This comprehensive study has greater depth and insight than any previous work, and is a significant step forward in the fields of social evolution and population genetics.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780198549420
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	05/23/1996
Series:	Oxford Series in Ecology and Evolution
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	314
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.06(h) x 0.66(d)

About the Author

La Trobe University

Uppsala University

Table of Contents

1. Introduction2. Inclusive fitness and sex allocation3. The evolution in insects4. Evolution of colony characteristics5. Intra-colony conflicts over sex allocation6. Colony-level variation of sex ratios

Editorial Reviews

"The ground covered is astounding, including detailed treatments of both theoretical and empirical studies on social insects. . . . no better team could have tackled the enormous task of writing this book." —Science

"An analysis of the genetic determinants in the reproductive patterns of social insect colonies as well as the genetic and behavioral characteristics of individuals within the colonies. . . .While this book may be of particular use to geneticists, entomologists, and social biologists, it should interest anyone involved in population genetics or social evolution."—BIOSIS

"It is not surprising that this book gives an excellent and thorough overview of the mathematical models, since the authors are responsible for a good number of them. However, what is of equal value is the yeoman work the authors have done to collect and organize the vast number of studies that can be used to test the models. For any serious student of social insects, just the tables of data put together by the authors are worth the price of the book."—The Quarterly Review of Biology

From the Publisher