Society is a type of harmonious ecological relationship between animals, which involves the organization of individuals of the same species, division of labor and cooperation between them . It is very common among insects but it also occurs to some degree in other groups, such as mammals.
Society Characteristics
Society defines intra-specific and positive or harmonic relationships, since it occurs between individuals of the same species, generating benefits for both parties. Among animals, social insects are the ones that best exemplify this behavior; they are highly organized, divided into grape varieties with complex functioning.
There are evolutionary advantages in social behavior , generally these communities are very numerous (a hive can house between 5,000 and 100,000 workers and up to 400 drones) and its organization favors the maintenance and protection of the group . In addition, they share care with offspring ensuring greater reproductive efficiency .
The communication is an important aspect in social insects, bees, for example, communicate through different sounds emitted with the movements of the wings. Termites carry out word-of-mouth communication (trophaxia) through which they share food and spread pheromone.
Bee Society
The bee varieties are formed by the queen bee, workers and drones. Feeding is an important factor, since the differentiated diet determines the fertility of individuals, thus, all larvae can receive some royal jelly , but only queens consume this food exclusively.
Queen Bee
The queen’s function is reproductive, but it also releases pheromones that help maintain social order, in addition to stimulating drones when they are ready to be fertilized.
She is able to lay thousands of eggs a day and thus populate her colony. As there is usually only one queen in each group, she is the mother of all the others.
Young queens that have not yet been fertilized can dispute the place with the older one, giving it stings (unlike the workers, queens do not die when they use the stinger), but generally they go out and found a new hive.
They perform a nuptial flight where they mate with several males and are able to store different sperm for years, in a compartment called spermateca . Larvae originating from fertilized eggs will form workers or new queens, which varies according to the food they receive.
They can also reproduce asexually through a process called parthenogenesis , but it is only possible when they do not find drones to copulate.
Hornets
They are the breeding males , they are generated by parthenogenesis from unfertilized eggs, therefore, they have only chromosomes originating from the mother and are haploid .
When the young queens make their nuptial flight, the drones, which have a very keen sense of smell, recognize the scent of the females and go to them to mate. Usually they die shortly afterwards.
In addition, despite not having a stinger, they have strong jaws that they can use to defend the hive from possible invaders.
Worker Bees
The workers work tirelessly to maintain the hive. They are sterile , they cannot reproduce, but they are the ones who take care of all the sisters that are generated by the queen bee.
They are responsible for feeding the larvae and all other members of the group. They breed larvae in special cavities. There they are cared for and fed with royal jelly, which has essential nutrients for the development and subsequent sexual maturation of queens.
Workers as well as drones are fed with honey and pollen, although their larvae may receive a small amount of royal jelly, which is the queen’s exclusive food.
Termite Society
Termites can live on the ground or in woods, where they make tunnels and galleries. They are organized into castes formed by the queen and the king, workers and soldiers. Unlike bees, each variety is composed of males and females.
Termites use pheromones to determine the differences of each variety , that is, each social category is defined by specific social hormones. They touch their jaws, passing food from mouth to mouth and droplets of pheromone are transmitted together.
This process of transmitting chemical messages , called trophaxia , allows you to control the quantity of each component within the termite mound, but very little is known about this mechanism.
Queens and Kings
In the reproductive period (hot spring and summer months) males and females with wings make the nuptial flight and form couples. After mating, they lose their wings and build their nests to reign together.
The queen has a very developed abdomen, because of the eggs she carries, making her much larger than other individuals. She is capable of laying thousands of eggs, originating all termites in the group. The king remains in the nest with the queen.
Workers
Termite workers can be male or female and are sterile. Their function is to take care of the termite monger: they dig tunnels, collect food, take care of their offspring.
Soldiers
Termites are responsible for the termite’s defense against invaders. They are as sterile as the workers and have a more developed jaw to drive out enemies.
Ant Society
The varieties of ants are formed by queens and kings and workers . Similar to the other social insects, the queen (or içá) and the king are fertile and responsible for reproduction, while the workers are sterile and take care of the maintenance of the anthill, they are the ones we see carrying leaves from one side to another.
The queens and kings have wings, during the reproductive period they perform the nuptial flight, and after fertilization the female develops the abdomen and lays thousands of eggs. The king dies shortly after mating.
The different species of ants feed in different ways, the saúvas, for example, grow fungi. They chew the collected leaves and make a cake on which the fungi will grow. When a new anthill is created, the queen carries a little fungus ball to start the new creation and feed the group.