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

Description:

Based on remarkable research, eighteen years after the publication of the classic work 'The Ants', this new volume expands our knowledge of social insects (ants, bees, wasps and termites). Superorganisms, tightly knit colonies of individuals, formed by altruistic co-operation, complex communication and division of labour, represent one of the basic stages of biological organisation, midway between the organism and the species. As the authors demonstrate, the study of the superorganism has led to important advances in our understanding of how the transitions between such levels have occurred in evolution and how life has progressed from simple to complex forms