Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 30, 2026
10:11
Collection and Long-Term Maintenance of Leaf-Cutting Ants (Atta) in Laboratory Conditions
Published on: August 30, 2022
Termites, hemimetabolous diploid white ants?
1Biologie I, University of Regensburg, D-93040 Regensburg, Germany. judith.korb@biologie.uni-osnabrueck.de.
Frontiers in Zoology
|September 30, 2008
Summary
Ants and termites evolved social lives independently, with termites living in wood and ants originating from wasps. Convergent evolution, particularly winglessness, explains their similar social structures.
Area of Science:
- Ecology
- Evolutionary Biology
- Entomology
Background:
- Ants and termites are abundant social insects with independently evolved colonies.
- Termites evolved from cockroaches, ants from predatory wasps, leading to different life history pre-adaptations for sociality.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare ancestral wood-dwelling termites with ants regarding their social evolution.
- To explore how different ancestries and life histories influenced the convergent evolution of social structures, particularly winglessness.
Main Methods:
- Comparative review focusing on wood-dwelling termites and ants.
- Analysis of life history traits, brood care, dispersal strategies, and wing polyphenism.
Main Results:
- Wood-dwelling termites, unlike ants, exhibit less worker engagement in brood care due to independent development and low dispersal selection.
- Convergent evolution, especially winglessness, is observed in both groups, likely driven by their shared dwelling lifestyle.
- Wing polyphenism in termites, where immatures develop into winged dispersers or wingless reproductives, may be a basis for social evolution.
Conclusions:
- Despite different evolutionary paths, ants and termites show convergent social evolution.
- Life history differences, such as provisioning and dispersal, shape social structures.
- Wing polyphenism in termites offers a novel perspective on the evolution of sociality.
