The Superorganism: The Beauty, Elegance, and Strangeness of Insect Societies

536 Pages·2008·24.03 MB·English

by  Bert Hölldobler

THE
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The Beauty, Elegance, and Strangeness of Insect Societies
Bert Holldobler and E. O.Wilson
WINNERS OF THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR THE ANTS
THE
SUPERORGANISM
BOOKS BY THE AUTHORS
ALSO BY BERT HOLLDOBLER AND EDWARD O. WILSON
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JourneytotheAnts:AStoryofScientificExploration(1994)
ALSO BY BERT HOLLDOBLER
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ALSO BY EDWARD O. WILSON
TheTheoryofIslandBiogeography,withRobertH.MacArthur(1967); newpreface, 2001
APrimerofPopulationBiology, withWilliam H. Bossert(1971)
TheInsectSocieties(1971)
Sociobiology: TheNewSynthesis(1975); newedition,2000
OnHumanNature(1978); PulitzerPrize,General Nonfiction, 1979
CasteandEcologyintheSocialInsects,withGeorgeEOster(1978)
Genes, Mind, andCulture,withCharlesJ.Lumsden(1981)
PrometheanFire:ReflectionsontheOriginofMind,withCharlesJ.Lumsden (1983)
Biophilia(1984)
SuccessandDominanceinEcosystems: TheCaseoftheSocialInsects(1990)
TheDiversityofLife(1992)
Naturalist(1994); newedition, 2006
InSearchofNature(1996)
Consilience: The UnityofKnowledge(1998)
BiologicalDiversity: TheOldestHumanHeritage(1999)
TheFutureofLife(2002)
PheidoleintheNewWorld:AHyperdiverseAntGenus(2003)
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NatureRevealed:SelectedWritings, 1949-2006(2006)
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Frontispiece: Plate 1.Weaverants(Oecophyllasmaragdina)cooperatein
arrangingleavesduringtheconstructionoftheirleaftentnests.
Copyright©2009byBertHoUdoblerandEdwardO.Wilson
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LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
HoUdobler, Bert, 1936-
Thesuperorganism:thebeauty,elegance,andstrangenessofinsectsocieties/BertHoUdobler
andEdwardO.Wilson;linedrawingsbyMargaretC.Nelson.— 1sted.
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN978-0-393-06704-0(hardcover)
1.Insectsocieties.I.Wilson,EdwardO. II.Title.
QL496.H65 2009
595.7'1782—dc22
2008038547
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FOR MARTIN LINDAUER, ourcolleagueandfriend, whose
pioneeringworkandinspirationinexperimental
sociobiobgycontributedgreatlytotheconceptionofan
insectsocietyasafunctionalsuperorganism
Let him who boasts the knowledge of
actuallyexistingthings, first tellusofthe
nature ofthe ant.
-ST. BASIL
CONTENTS
NOTE TO THE GENERAL READER XVI
CHAPTER 1 THE CONSTRUCTION OF A SUPERORGANISM
WhyColoniesAreSuperior 5
TheConstructionofSuperorganisms
6
TheLevels ofOrganization
7
EusocialityandtheSuperorganism
8
ABriefHistoryofInsectSociobiology
10
CHAPTER 2 GENETIC SOCIAL EVOLUTION 15
AnAbridged HistoryoftheGeneticTheoryofSocial Evolution
16
Multilevel NaturalSelection 24
The Evolution ofEusociality
29
Crossing theEusocialityThreshold
31
CountervailingForcesofSelection
42
PassingthePointofNoReturn
42
CHAPTER 3 SOCIOGENESIS 51
TheColonyLife Cycle
53
SocialAlgorithms
53
Self-Organization andEmergence
58
PhylogeneticInertiaandDynamicSelection
60