Ant physiology has been fashioned by 100 million years of social evolution. Ants perform
many sophisticated social and collective behaviors yet possess nervous systems similar in …

Ant colonies typically have a winged queen and a wingless worker caste. However, novel
types of queens (eg, wingless queens) and novel types of workers (eg, soldiers) have …

As drivers of evolutionary innovations, new genes allow organisms to explore new niches.
However, clear examples of this process remain scarce. Bamboos, the unique grass lineage …

Most ant species have two distinct female castes—queens and workers—yet the
developmental and genetic mechanisms that produce these alternative phenotypes remain …

Living systems are hierarchical control systems that display a small world network structure,
in which many smaller clusters are nested within fewer larger ones, producing a fractal-like …

As social insects, ants represent extremely interaction-rich biological systems shaped by
tightly integrated social structures and constant mutual exchange with a multitude of internal …

Under the standard model of ant caste development, a series of switch‐like determination
mechanisms cause larvae to follow distinct developmental trajectories. These mechanisms …

Highlights•Worker ants exhibit limited ovary development and egg production.•Worker
reproduction is influenced by social context, environment and species.•The presence of …

Concerted developmental programming may constrain changes in component structures of
the brain, thus limiting the ability of selection to form an adaptive mosaic of size‐variable …

Juvenile hormone is considered to be a master regulator of polyphenism in social insects. In
the ant Cardiocondyla obscurior, whether a female egg develops into a queen or a worker is …