ABSTRACT
A “megasociety” consists of a very large population featuring a complex division of labor that is executed by categories of specialists within the population. Interestingly, the largest and most complex megasocieties are manifested by species that are phylogenetically very distant from each other, i.e., the eusocial insects (ants, bees, wasps, and termites) and contemporary humans. The study of megasociality provides an opportunity to identify the fundamental processes and mechanisms by means of which megasocieties develop and function. A cross-species analysis of megasociality shifts focus from the defining and unique features of the specific organisms that produce and live in megasocieties (e.g., ants versus humans) and, rather, directs attention to the common and generic social structures and social processes that comprise a megasocial system and how that system emerges and operates among diverse taxa. Stated differently, the study of megasocieties is an exercise in “pure sociology,” a sociology that is devoted to analyzing forms of sociality rather than characteristics of individuals themselves. The evolution of megasociality can be construed as entailing a suite of “design problems” that are common to all species but that are solved very differently by invertebrates such as ants, in contrast to vertebrates such as humans.
