New study suggests insect societies operate like a single superorganism
February 01, 2010
For more than a century, biologists have marveled at the highly cooperative nature of ants, bees and other social insects that work together to determine the survival and growth of a colony
A team of researchers including Michael Kaspari a STRI research associate and a presidential professor of zoology, ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Oklahoma, and led by James Gillooly, from the University of Florida, has shown that insect colonies follow some of the same biological “rules” as individuals, a finding that suggests insect societies operate like a single “superorganism” in terms of their physiology and life cycle.
For more than a century, biologists have marveled at the highly cooperative nature of ants, bees and other social insects that work together to determine the survival and growth of a colony. The social interactions are much like cells working together in a single body, hence the term “superorganism” — an organism comprised of many organisms, according to James Gillooly, an assistant professor in the department of biology at University of Florida’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. By analyzing data from 168 different social insect species including ants, termites, bees and wasps, the authors found that the lifespan, growth rates and rates of reproduction of whole colonies, when considered as superorganisms, were nearly indistinguishable from individual organisms.
The findings are published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. “Certainly one of the reasons folks have been interested in social insects and the consequences of living in groups is that it tells us about our own species,” said Kaspari, “There is currently a vigorous debate on how sociality evolved. We suggest that any theory of sociality be consistent with the amazing convergence in the way nonsocial and social organisms use energy.”
In addition to James Gillooly and Kaspari, Chen Hou from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and Hannah B. Vander Zanden of the University of Florida participated in the study.
Adapted from information from the University of Florida
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