This chapter deals with what the social insects can teach us about social evol-ution and kin
selection, since it is in these areas that social insect research has made some of its most …

This book is about the genetics and behaviour of individuals within colonies of social insects-
bees, wasps, ants, and termites. Colonial living is characterized by division of labour and …

Kin selection theory occupies a dominant position in the study of social evolution. Although
its meaning and potential uses were slow to be appreciated following its publication (as …

Individual organisms are complex in a special way. The organization and function of their
parts seem directed toward a purpose: the survival and reproduction of that individual …

Kin-selection theory (Hamilton's" genetical theory") explains how aid that is self-sacrificing
(in terms of classical individual fitness), or" altruism," can evolve if sufficiently beneficial to …

An important feature of insect societies is the presence of a sterile worker caste that makes it
possible for the fertile queens to produce a large number of offsprings. The mechanism of …

The key evolutionary problem concerning the origin of eusociality, and of helping systems in
general, is how genes could be selected when their effect is to decrease the reproduction of …

Kin selection is a widely invoked mechanism to explain the origin and evolution of social
behaviour in animals. Proponents of the theory of kin selection place great emphasis on the …

Kin selection has been used to explain evolution of man altruistic traits found in those social
insect castes which have reduced reproductivity. Kin selection is most probable among …

In his study of a kin selection model for the evolution of workers' behavior in an incipiently
social insect, Craig (1979) found that the haplodiploid mode of sex determination, combined …