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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 19, 2026

Collection and Long-Term Maintenance of Leaf-Cutting Ants (Atta) in Laboratory Conditions

Collection and Long-Term Maintenance of Leaf-Cutting Ants (Atta) in Laboratory Conditions

Published on: August 30, 2022

Nonrelatives inherit colony resources in a primitive termite.

Philip M Johns¹, Kenneth J Howard, Nancy L Breisch

¹Biology Program, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY 12504, USA.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

|October 7, 2009

Summary

The evolution of eusociality in termites is clarified by studying encounters between unrelated colonies. Replacement reproductives developed from workers, demonstrating ecological factors can drive social evolution.

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Last Updated: Jun 19, 2026

Collection and Long-Term Maintenance of Leaf-Cutting Ants (Atta) in Laboratory Conditions

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Induction and Evaluation of Inbreeding Crosses Using the Ant, Vollenhovia Emeryi

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Extracting DNA from the Gut Microbes of the Termite (Zootermopsis Angusticollis) and Visualizing Gut Microbes

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Published on: May 28, 2007

Area of Science:

Evolutionary Biology
Behavioral Ecology
Social Insects

Background:

Eusociality, characterized by cooperative brood care and reproductive division of labor, is a paradox, particularly the evolution of sterility.
Termites, a diploid group with complex societies and diverse castes, offer a unique model for studying eusociality, distinct from haplodiploid Hymenoptera.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the role of ecological factors in the evolution of eusociality using primitive dampwood termites (Zootermopsis nevadensis).
To understand the origin and behavior of replacement reproductives after colony disruption.

Main Methods:

Staged encounters between unrelated Zootermopsis nevadensis colonies to simulate natural interactions.
Observed colony merging, reproductive replacement, and interbreeding after simulated king/queen death.

Main Results:

Members of merged, unrelated colonies cooperated as a single social unit.
Replacement reproductives developed from workers of the original colonies.
These replacement reproductives inherited merged colony resources and sometimes interbred.

Conclusions:

Ecological factors, such as colony encounters and resource merging, can promote eusociality by enhancing direct fitness of offspring.
Kin selection, driven by relatedness, may be less critical in the initial evolution of eusociality than previously thought.
Findings in Zootermopsis nevadensis provide insights into the ancestral conditions that may have facilitated the evolution of complex social systems in termites.