ABSTRACT
In this book internationally known experts provide a comprehensive view of current knowledge of social insect biology including much previously unpublished information. Particular emphasis is given to the relationships between social insects and humans; sections are devoted to economically important social insects, pollination, foraging, and the role of insects in ecosystems and agroecosystems. The authors also discuss communication, behavior and caste within insect colonies. A special section focuses on the neurobiology of social insects. A series of papers considers the presocial insects, which live in family groups but without caste differences. Also well represented are the fields of sociobiology and the origins and evolution of social behavior. The book will be valuable to agricultural scientists as well as to entomologists, sociobiologists, ecologists, ethologists, and natural historians. Endocrinologists and neurobiologists will also find important new material.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
part |9 pages
Plenary Addresses
part Symposium I|34 pages
Foraging Behavior and Pollination
part Symposium II|23 pages
Competition and Population Dynamics in Social Insects
part Symposium III|38 pages
The Roles of Social Insects in Ecosystems
part Symposium IV|43 pages
Economically Important Social Insects
part Symposium V|33 pages
Presocial Behavior
part Symposium VI|39 pages
The Evolution and Ontogeny of Eusociality
part Symposium VII|33 pages
Caste and Ergonomics
part Symposium VIII|35 pages
Predation, Social Parasitism, and Defense
part Symposium IX|39 pages
Communication
part Symposium X|66 pages
Neurobiology and Behavior of Social Insects