The profound biological changes that lofted the honeybee to an advanced state of social organization are reflected in its newly sequenced genome. The species can now be studied all the way from molecule to colony.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
The Honeybee Genome Sequencing Consortium Nature 443, 931–949 (2006).
Wilson, E. O. Sociobiology: The New Synthesis (Harvard Univ. Press, 1975).
Choe, J. C. & Crespi, B. J. (eds) The Evolution of Social Behavior in Insects and Arachnids (Cambridge Univ. Press, 1997).
Seeley, T. D. The Wisdom of the Hive (Harvard Univ. Press, 1995).
Michener, C. D. The Social Behavior of the Bees: A Comparative Study (Harvard Univ. Press, 1974).
Sekiguchi, F. & Sakagami, S. F. Rep. Hokkaido Natl Agric. Exp. Sta. 69, 1–65 (1966).
Lindauer, M. Communication Among Social Bees (Harvard Univ. Press, 1961).
Rösch, G. A. Z. Vergl. Physiol. 12, 1–71 (1930).
von Frisch, K. The Dance Language and Orientation of Bees (Harvard Univ. Press, 1967).
Michener, C. D. The Bees of the World (Johns Hopkins Univ. Press, 2000).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wilson, E. How to make a social insect. Nature 443, 919–920 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/443919a
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/443919a
- Springer Nature Limited
This article is cited by
-
Occurrence of different insect species with emphasis on their abundance and diversity in different habitats of Faisalabad, Pakistan
International Journal of Tropical Insect Science (2021)
-
The four hexamerin genes in the honey bee: structure, molecular evolution and function deduced from expression patterns in queens, workers and drones
BMC Molecular Biology (2010)