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Glite Dictionary
eusociality

eusociality

1 9.9
A social group of animals where some do not have babies and help others like ants and bees
  • noun
  • /juːˌsoʊʃiˈælɪti/
  • Specialized
: eusocialidad
  • In evaluating such evidence, it is worth stressing that the attainment of eusociality has been a rare event in the evolutionary history of animals.
  • reproductive altruism
  • evolution of eusociality
  • origin of eusociality

Examples

  • Among these latter few, a single one, the Australian eucalyptus-boring beetle Platypus (Austroplatypus incompertus), is known to have developed eusociality.

    Academic text (2008)

  • A second preadaptation that favors the transition to eusociality is the propensity, documented in solitary bees, to behave like eusocial species when forced together experimentally.

    Academic text (2008)

  • Why has eusociality been so successful?

    Academic text (2008)

  • The total number of known origins of eusociality in arthropods overall is 13.

    Academic text (2008)

  • Wilson charts two distinct evolutionary paths to eusociality, one taken by the social insects, the other by ourselves.

    Blog text (31)

  • Numerous genetic studies in insects, other invertebrates, and vertebrates have shown that eusociality evolved in groups of highly related individuals

    Academic text (1999)

  • In this article, I argue that the origin of altruism leading to eusociality cannot be deduced by aprioristic reasoning based on general models.

    Academic text (2008)

  • As an overarching principle, the final step to eusociality can occur with the substitution of only one allele or a small set of alleles.

    Academic text (2008)

  • The key preadaptation for eusociality in the social Hymenoptera is progressive provisioning, a behavior that in solitary species arises by individual direct selection.

    Academic text (2008)

  • In eusociality, many insects, like ants and bees, sacrifice their ability to reproduce to care for their colony.

Antonyms

individualism
23 6.5

A belief that each person is independent and different from others

self-reliance
20 4.1

Being able to do things and meet needs without help from others

How Social

eusociality
  • Specialized
1 9.9
sociality
1 7.9
solitude
3 5.1

Surface Forms

eusociality singular
eusocialities plural

Morphology

eusociality = eusocial (semi-transparent) = eu + social + ity

Formally derived by adding '-ity' to the adjective 'eusocial'; the morphological relation is clear but 'eu-' is a less familiar Greek combining form and 'eusocial' is a technical biological term.

Etymology

Eusociality is made of eu- meaning 'good' or 'well' and social meaning 'living with others', so it means a 'truly social' way of life. That's why eusociality describes animals like ants and bees where some members give up having babies to help the group.