Wenseleers Tom, Ratnieks Francis L W, de F Ribeiro Marcia, de A Alves Denise, Imperatriz-Fonseca Vera-Lucia
Zoological Institute, Laboratory of Entomology, University of Leuven, Naamsestraat 59, Leuven, Belgium.
Biol Lett. 2005 Jun 22;1(2):125-8. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2004.0281.
The struggle among social classes or castes is well known in humans. Here, we show that caste inequality similarly affects societies of ants, bees and wasps, where castes are morphologically distinct and workers have greatly reduced reproductive potential compared with queens. In social insects, an individual normally has no control over its own fate, whether queen or worker, as this is socially determined during rearing. Here, for the first time, we quantify a strategy for overcoming social control. In the stingless bee Schwarziana quadripunctata, some individuals reared in worker cells avoid a worker fate by developing into fully functional dwarf queens.
社会阶层或种姓之间的斗争在人类社会中广为人知。在此，我们表明种姓不平等同样影响着蚂蚁、蜜蜂和黄蜂群体，在这些群体中，不同种姓在形态上有明显差异，且与蚁后相比，工蚁的繁殖潜力大幅降低。在社会性昆虫中，个体通常无法掌控自身命运，无论成为蚁后还是工蚁，因为这是在发育过程中由社会环境决定的。在此，我们首次量化了一种克服社会控制的策略。在无刺蜂四斑施瓦兹蜂中，一些在工蜂蜂巢中发育的个体通过发育成为功能完备的矮小型蚁后，从而避免成为工蜂的命运。
