Caste (biology)
In zoology, a caste is a clearly defined group of individuals within an animal state . Within a social association, the caste is a functionally or morphologically specialized form of a state-building animal species .
The term is borrowed from the sociological caste term .
A box formation can be found z. B. in ants , termites , hornets , wasps and honey bees . In mammals there is a box formation in the nude mole rats . The caste system is controlled by pheromones .
Special tasks have to be performed in functioning insect states. In order to cope with this, there is caste formation (polymorphism) or the change of phases of life with different tasks (polyethism). For example, honey bees have the following boxes and task periods:
literature
- Volker Storch , Ulrich Welsch : Short textbook of zoology. Springer Spectrum, 2004, ISBN 978-3-8274-2967-4 , pp. 152–154, sv "Division of Labor"