Fes Insect Behavioral Ecology 79

In this landmark volume, an international group of scientists has synthesized their collective expertise and insight into a newly unified vision of insect societies and what they can reveal about how sociality has arisen as an evolutionary strategy. Jürgen Gadau and Jennifer Fewell have assembled leading researchers from the fields of molecular biology, evolutionary genetics, neurophysiology, behavioral ecology, and evolutionary theory to reexamine the question of sociality in insects. Recent advances in social complexity theory and the sequencing of the honeybee genome ensure that this book will be valued by anyone working on sociality in insects. At the same time, the theoretical ideas presented will be of broad-ranging significance to those interested in social evolution and complex systems.

Insects display a staggering diversity of behaviors. Studying these systems provides insights into a wide range of ecological, evolutionary, and behavioral questions including the genetics of behavior, phenotypic plasticity, chemical communication, and the evolution of life-history traits. This accessible text offers a new approach that provides the reader with the necessary theoretical and conceptual foundations, at different hierarchical levels, to understand insect behavior. The book is divided into three main sections: mechanisms, ecological and evolutionary consequences, and applied issues. The final section places the preceding chapters within a framework of current threats to human survival - climate change, disease, and food security - before providing suggestions and insights as to how we can utilize an understanding of insect behavior to control and/or ameliorate them. Each chapter provides a concise, authoritative review of the conceptual, theoretical, and methodological foundations of each topic.

This book represents empirical studies of some aspect of the phenomenon of variability in social insect behavior. It illustrates the range of ways colony members can differ from one another and interprets the variability in terms of the external environment, social context, or individual experience.

Insect behavior; The biological basis of insect behavior; Insect bahavior as field of study; The programming and integration of behavior; Nervous coordinating mechanisms; Hormonal coordinating mechanisms; Internal communication; The increase of information; Spatial adjustment; Locomotion; Orientation; Dispersal; Thermoregulation; Feeding behavior; Herbivores and plants; Food location; Social feeding behaviors; Food recognition and acceptance; Regulation of feeding; Chemical communication; Mechanisms of chemical comuunication; Odor production and chemoreception; Types of chemical communications; The functions of chemical. Visual communication; Light production; Light reception; Functions of visual communication; Mechano-communication; Defense survival catalogue. Reprocuctive behavior. Brood care and social life.