Abstract
There are perhaps 12000 living species of ants, and their organization undoubtedly represents the pinnacle of social evolution in animals. For this reason ant colonies are referred to as being eusocial: literally, truly-social. This type of organization has three characteristics: (i) overlapping adult generations; (ii) cooperative brood care; (iii) more or less non-reproductive workers or helpers. Eusociality occurs in other insects only among the termites, and some wasps and bees.
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© 1987 Blackie & Son Ltd
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Sudd, J.H., Franks, N.R. (1987). Social Behaviour as a Selfish Strategy. In: The Behavioural Ecology of Ants. Tertiary Level Biology. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-3123-7_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-3123-7_1
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-010-7904-4
Online ISBN: 978-94-009-3123-7
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