Caste (biology)
In some eusocial species, individuals of one species live together in colonies. These groups are often called nests or hives. Often there is a division of labour. In Hymenoptera,[1] for example, a hive may have several kinds of females, which by Polyphenism carry out different tasks, and whose bodies are different.
Such specialized types in one species are known as castes. Castes that are not involved in producing offspring are usually sterile. The term originally comes from the caste-system in Hinduism.
Caste (biology) Media
- Revisando las larvas de una colmenas.jpg
Co-operative brood rearing, seen here in honeybees, is a condition of eusociality.
- AntsStitchingLeave.jpg
Weaver ants, here collaborating to pull nest leaves together, can be considered eusocial, as they have a permanent division of labor.
- Meat eater ant nest swarming03.jpg
A swarming meat-eater ant colony
Naked mole-rat, one of two eusocial species in the Phiomorpha
- Blueish-Naked-Mole-Rat extracted-on-white-background.jpg
Blueish-Naked-Mole-Rat extracted-on-white-background
- Synalpheus fritzmuelleri.jpg
The snapping shrimp (Synalpheus fritzmuelleri), commonly found in hard-bottom sponges. Note the parasitic isopod attached to the carapace.
- Termites marked with traceable protiens.jpg
Termites_marked_with_traceable_protiens
- Snodgrass Rhopalosiphum prunifoliae.jpg
Snodgrass Rhopalosiphum prunifoliae
- Platypodinae P1250579b.jpg
- Platypodinae, pinhole borers, Size: 4.5 mm
Related pages
Notes
- ↑ Wasps, bees and ants