Life span evolution in eusocial workers--a theoretical approach to understanding the effects of extrinsic mortality in a hierarchical system.

While the extraordinary life span of queens and division of labor in eusocial societies have been well studied, it is less clear which selective forces act on the short life span of workers. The disparity of life span between the queen and the workers is linked to a basic issue in sociobiology: How...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Boris H Kramer, Ralf Schaible
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2013-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/23596527/pdf/?tool=EBI