2 ms·
For ants and bees in particular I’ve sometimes heard the theory that it’s the ant/bee colony we should consider the organism, not the individual ants or bees. I
by Swizec 6y ago
For ants and bees in particular I’ve sometimes heard the theory that it’s the ant/bee colony we should consider the organism, not the individual ants or bees. In large part because it’s the queen that mates and all the others are there to help the queen survive and pass on her genes.
- Sharlin 6y agoThat's in itself just begging the question. The genetic mechanism behind eusociality in bees and ants is haplodiploidy[1], which among other things makes the relatedness of workers up to 75% rather than the 50% between siblings in diploid organisms. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haplodiploidy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haplodiploidy