Volume 2 · Part II · 1971
The Insect Societies
Wilson, Edward O.
Published 1971
Author(s) Wilson, Edward O.
LC Class QL496 .W66
LCCN 74148941
Summary
Wilson opens by establishing that social insects, though comprising only a small fraction of all insect species, dominate terrestrial ecosystems in sheer biomass and ecological impact. Their staggering abundance and their tight organization make them, in his framing, among the most consequential animals on Earth, and therefore a subject fully worthy of the comprehensive synthesis the book undertakes.
Table of Contents
- Chapter 1. The Importance of Social Insects
- Chapter 2. The Ants
- Chapter 3. The Social Bees
- Chapter 4. The Social Wasps
- Chapter 5. The Termites
- Chapter 6. Caste and Division of Labor
- Chapter 7. Communication and Chemical Signals
- Chapter 8. Population Dynamics and the Colony Life Cycle
- Chapter 9. Symbioses and Social Parasitism
- Chapter 10. The Genetic Theory of Social Behavior
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