Novel genes determine division of labor in insect societies
Novel or highly modified genes play a major role in the development of the different castes within ant colonies. Evolutionary biologists came to this conclusion in a recent gene expression study by looking at the question of how the different female castes arise. An ant colony generally consists of a queen and the workers. Moreover, workers can differ depending on the task they perform, such as brood care, foraging, or nest defense. This behavioral specialization may be accompanied by morphological and physiological differences. Queens, solely responsible for reproduction, can live up to 30 years while workers have life spans ranging from a few months to several years. In some species there are also soldier ants, which can weigh up to 100 times more than their worker sisters who take care of the brood.