Construct · 3 fields · 4 citations

eusociality: one construct, many systems

One name. One construct. Different systems. One map.

● invariant · one construct, three lineages Nearest construct by meaning·not indexed
same colony-level division of reproductive labourindependently evolved in a marine lineageeusociality3 SYSTEMSInsect eusocialityWILSON · COLONYMammal eusocialityJARVIS · MOLE-RATCrustacean eusocialityDUFFY · SHRIMP

Spokes are the systems the one construct recurs in; dashed arcs are shared lineage. Tap a field for its definition, unit, and measures.

1971Insect eusociality1981Mammal eusociality1996Crustacean eusociality
2026

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Entomology

social organisation combining cooperative care of young, overlapping adult generations, and a non-reproducing caste working for a fertile few.

Eusociality is the most advanced grade of animal social organisation, defined by three features together: cooperative care of the young, overlapping adult generations, and a reproductive division of labour in which a non-reproducing caste works for a fertile few. It was described first and most fully in the social insects (ants, termites, and many bees and wasps) in Wilson's The Insect Societies, and Crespi and Yanega's 1995 The definition of eusociality sharpened the criteria, stressing caste membership that cannot be reversed. The referent is a colony-level labour system, the same construct later recognised well beyond insects.[1][2]

Unit
A colony organised by reproductive division of labour, cooperative brood care, and overlapping generations
Recovery means
Not applicable
Measured by
Diagnosed by non-reproducing helper castes, generational overlap, and cooperative care of offspring

Mammalogy

A rodent colony with one breeding queen

The same construct turned up in a mammal: naked mole-rat colonies have a single breeding queen and a few breeding males, while the rest are non-reproducing workers that dig, forage, and tend the queen's pups. Jarvis's 1981 Eusociality in a mammal: cooperative breeding in naked mole-rat colonies documented reproductive division of labour and generational overlap in these subterranean rodents. It is the social construct defined for insects, realised in a vertebrate, evidence that eusociality is a recurring organisational solution rather than a quirk of one lineage.[3]

Unit
A rodent colony with a single breeding female and non-reproducing workers
Recovery means
Not applicable
Measured by
Established by reproductive skew to one queen, worker non-reproduction, and cooperative care of the colony's young

Marine biology

colonies of sponge-dwelling snapping shrimp with a single reproductive female and many non-breeding members that defend the sponge.

The construct recurs again in the sea: some sponge-dwelling snapping shrimp live in colonies with a single reproductive female and many non-breeding members that defend the host sponge. Duffy's 1996 Eusociality in a coral-reef shrimp was the first report of eusociality in a marine animal and in a crustacean. It is the same reproductive-division-of-labour construct as in insect and mammal societies, independently evolved in a third major lineage.[4]

Unit
A shrimp colony with one breeding female and non-reproducing defenders
Recovery means
Not applicable
Measured by
Shown by a single reproductive female, non-breeding colony members, and cooperative defence of the shared host

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Nearby constructs

trophallaxis1 fields · 1 citationsanchor · a single construct in social-insect biologycaste2 fields · 3 citationsjingle · one word, two constructsconstruct6 fields · 7 citationsjingle · one name, six constructs

References

  1. Wilson, E. O. (1971). The insect societies. Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674454903
  2. Crespi, B. J., & Yanega, D. (1995). The definition of eusociality. Behavioral Ecology, 6(1), 109–115. https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/6.1.109
  3. Jarvis, J. U. M. (1981). Eusociality in a mammal: Cooperative breeding in naked mole-rat colonies. Science, 212(4494), 571–573. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.7209555
  4. Duffy, J. E. (1996). Eusociality in a coral-reef shrimp. Nature, 381(6582), 512–514. https://doi.org/10.1038/381512a0

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