A 60-year-old theory about ants, bees and wasps may be wrong
New research challenges a 60-year-old theory that haplodiploidy—a genetic system found in ants, bees, and wasps—is the primary driver of eusociality. The study suggests that complex social structures in insects are likely driven by specific evolutionary traits rather than inheritance patterns alone.
For more than six decades, evolutionary biologists have debated whether an unusual genetic system shared by ants, bees and wasps helped drive one of nature's most sophisticated forms of social organization: eusociality. In eusocial colonies, reproduction is divided between queens and workers, creating highly cooperative societies with specialized roles.
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