1. PRESENTATION ON
SOCIAL ORGANIZATION
IN INSECTS

2. CONTENTS Social behavior in insects. Termites Honey bee Ant
Yellow wasp
Communication
Economic importance

3. SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR IN INSECTS
The familiar example are social insects such as ants, bees, and wasps(order hymenoptera), as termites (order isoptera), all with reproductive queens and more or less sterile workers and soldiers.
Silkworms and bees have been domesticated by humans for the production of silk and honey.
Many of these species live in colonies with thousands or even millions of individuals.

4. SOCIAL INSECTS:- TERMITES
Termites colonies are found in regions of africa, south america, Australia and the united states. They are social insects but less advanced that ants colonies.
Termites are related more to cockroaches.
The termite colony has three class of individuals and each class includes both sexes.
Termites digest wood and paper.
Some species of termites build nests up to 6 meters in height.

5. DESCRIPTION - TERMITES
These termites use a sophisticated chemical(pheromone) communication system.
Although termites utilize a wide range of pheromones categorized as trail, alarm,aggregation,mating and others.
Trail pheromones is produced by termites when they are trying to get other member of the colony to follow then to a particular area perhaps a new food source for the colony.
Termites dislike daylight.
Some species lives in nests called termitaria.

6. FERTILE CASTES Fertile castes also known as sexual castes
It is of 3 types-(a)LARGE WINGED FORMS
These are king and queen.
The ocelli are usually present.
The sole duty of queen is to lay eggs.
(b)SHORT WINGED FORM-
These are supplementary kings and queens.
The wings are short, pad like and vestigial.
The ocelli may be present or not.
(c)WINGLESS FORM
Wings are absent.
The ocelli are absent.

7. STERILE CASTES These are wingless, eyeless and colorless.
The sex organs are rudimentary
Incapable of reproduction.
It is of 3 types
WORKERS-They are dimorphic.
They are trimorphic in some cases.
They construct, repair the nest collect and distribute food.
(b)SOLDIERS-They are larger than the workers.
The soldiers defend the colony by killing the intruders with their mandibles.
NASUTES-The nasutes also called the proboscideans.
They possess large head prolonged into rostrum.

8. FEEDING AND SWARMING
The termites commonly feed on living as well as dead plant material.
They are able to digest cellulose with the help of symbiotic Protozoa , such as Trichonympha.
The termites also take fungi and dead bodies of their fellows.
In the rainy season true kings and queens are produced in large numbers.
They leave the termitarium through holes made by the workers and fly away to new sites . This is called swarming or dispersal flight.

9. FOUNDING NEW COLONIES
At new site one king and one queen mate shed wings at the preformed breaking point, dig out burrow and start new colony.
The queen lay eggs these eggs are hatch into workers .
Some eggs and nymph are eaten up by the parents.
The queen grows her abdomen to an enormous size mm.
She is tented by the workers and her abdomen gets packed with eggs.
When her fertility lessens , her feeding is suspended and she dies of starvation.
Her body is eaten up.The king changes up little. He only grows a bit larger due to good diet.
The eggs are oval with pale color and smooth.

10. SOCIAL INSECTS :-HONEY BEE
Honey bee workers perform a series of movements , often referred to as the “waggle dance”, to each other workers the location of food sources more than 150 meters from the hive. Scout bees fly from the colony in search of pollen and nectar. It successful in finding good supplies of food “dances” on the honeycomb.
The waggle dance - the direction the bee moves in relation to the hive indicates direction; if it moves vertically upwards the direction to the source is directly towards the Sun, the duration of the waggle part of the dance signifies the distance.

11. DESCRIPTION - HONEY BEE
There are over 10,000 different species of bees.
The honey bee colony lives in a hive which is often constructed in a hollow tree.
The colony has only one queen whose function is to lay eggs in the hexagonally shaped wax cells in the centre of the hive.
The workers are all sterile females. Their functions are to feed and care for the larvae, build, clear, and guard the hive and search for food.

12. HONYBEE(Apis indica)
The individuals forming a colony are of 3 castes-QUEEN ,DRONES, WORKERS
Average sized colony has 10,000 to 16,000 individuals.
(i) QUEEN-
The queen is fertile female.
She is unable to form hive.
Her duty is to lay eggs.
(ii) DRONES-
The drones are males
They do not work in hives.
(iii)WORKERS-
They are sterile females
Young workers stay in the hives and
called the house bees.

13. QUEEN BEE
The queen bee produces a chemical which is licked off her body by the attending workers.
This chemical is passed from worker to worker in their saliva.
The drone’s only function is to mate with the SOCIAL INSECTS :-HONEY BEE young queen.

14. DAYS WORKERS BEE’S ACTIVITIES
1to Cleaning the honeycomb cells and keeping the eggs and the larvae
worm.
3 to Feeding the older larvae with beebread.
7to Feeding the younger larvae with royal jelly.
12 to Making bee wax and building honeycomb moving food around
the hive.
18 to Guarding and ventilation the entrance to the hive .
22 to Visiting flowers to collect pollen and nectar.
35 to End of the life of a worker bee.

15. HIVE OR COMB BUILDING It consists of thick vertical
sheet bearing two layers of
hexagonal chambers the cell.
THE CELLS ARE OF TWO
MAIN TYPES.
STORAGE CELL-About 5mm.
They are used for storing
honey and pollen.
BROOD CELLS-They occupy the central and lower portions.
They are used for rearing the brood.

16. FOOD COLLECTION (i) NECTAR- Sugary selection in flowers.
the source of nectar.
The final concentrated food is honey.
(ii) POLLEN –
As the workers suck nectar from
Flowers the hair covering their entire
body get smeared with pollens
From the anthers.

17. WAGGLE DANCE
The waggle dance - the direction the bee moves in relation to the hive indicates direction; if it moves vertically upwards the direction to the source is directly towards the Sun, the duration of the waggle part of the dance signifies the distance.

18. SOCIAL INSECTS:- ANTS
Ants are probably the most highly developed social insects .Each colony contains at least on queen.
The nests are usually underground and are made of numerous passages and chambers.
The ant colony is kept together by chemicals produced by the queen.
Harvester ants gather seeds and store them in their nests.
Parasol ants cut pieces of leaves which the take to their nest and chew into a pulp.
Ants defend their nest by biting and stinging.

19. SOCIAL LIFE
Ants secrete substances called pheromones, which are chemical messages detected by other ants through sense organs or the antennae.This process called chemoreception , is the primary communication vehicle that facilitates mate attraction ,kin and non kin recognition.
Ants send tactile signals by touching and stroking each other’s bodies with their antennae and forelegs.

20. NEST Majority of ants form underground nests called formic aria.
It consists of numerous chambers connected by galleries.
The Chambers are used as granaries ,for storing seeds nurseries for rearing progeny.
These fall into four main castes-QUEENS ,KINGS ,WORKERS AND SOLIDERS.

21. (i) QUEENS They are fertile females with well reproductive system.
They are larger than all other castes .
Two pairs of membranous wings that are shed after mating.
Their mandibles are normal.
Their sole duty is to lay eggs
They may have life span of 15 or even 30 years.
The ant colony has several queens-they may be as large or macrogynes and small or microgynes.

22. (ii) KINGS These are fertile males with well reproductive system.
They are smaller than the queens and soldiers but larger than workers.
They, like queens has two pairs of wings.
Their mandibles are reduced .
They serve to fertilize the queens.
They may also of two kinds-macraners and micraners.

23. (iii) WORKERS
These are sterile females with reduced ,non functional reproductive system.
They are smaller than all other castes.
Their mandibles are well developed but eyes are small.
They repair nest ,collect and store food.
They are generally dimorphic having micrergates and macrergates.
In some species they are polymorphic.

24. (iv) SOLDIERS They are modified workers.
They are next to queen in size.
They are wingless.
They have large head with powerful mandibles.
They defend the colony from the enemies.
They also crush seeds and fruits.

25. FEEDING Most ants are herbivorous.
They collect seeds mostly of grasses and are called harvesting ants.
Some feed on fungus grown on certain chambers ,the fungus gardens of the nest and are called as HORTICULTURE ANTS.
PRIMITIVE ANTS are carnivorous.
They capture small insects ,spiders and other invertebrates.
Some are omnivorous.

26. SWARMING AND NUPTIAL FLIGHT
Commonly in rainy season the adult queens and kings leave the nest in large numbers and fly high in the air. This is called swarming or nuptial flight.
It often occurs simultaneously in many colonies to provide cross fertilization.
Mating takes place in the air.
The kings usually dies after mating.
Mortality is high during swarming.
Formation of different castes is based on 2 theories-
GENETIC THEORY-The workers develop from the unfertilized egg and the winged queens and kings from the fertilized eggs.
TROPHIC THEORY-Similar larvae grows into different castes by receiving different kinds and quantities of food.

27. SOCIAL INSECT-YELLOW WASP
Also known as POLISTES.
The wasp has 3 castes- queens, drones and workers.
Single queen prepares a nest in spring.
The queen lay eggs and the egg hatch into apodous larvae .
The workers have a powerful sting and are a source of great annoyance to men .
Drones are produced from unfertilized eggs.
They fertilize the young queens.
In winters the young queens hibernate and the nest perishes .
The queens start new colonies next spring.
The adult wasp feed on insects ,fruit juices and nectar.

28. COMMUNICATION Why do insects communicate
Some form of intraspecific communication is a prerequisite for any behaviour that involves the participation or cooperation of two or more individuals.
The adaptive value of these communication signals may include.
1)Recognition of nestmates.
2)Locating or identifying a member of the opposite sex.
3)Giving direction for location of food or other resources.
4)Warning of danger, setting off an alarm.

29. ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE CRUSTACEA- Many crustaceans provide human food.
Prawn and crabs are eaten.
The crustaceans are harmful also.
The crabs and crayfish harbour larvae of the lung fluke.
CHILOPODA-The centipedes are beneficial to man as they feed on insects some of which are injuries.
Larger forms are inflict painful bites.
DIPLOPODA-The millipedes dispose off the dead organic matter.
Some eat and damage plant roots.

30. USEFUL INSECTS
HONEY -It is produced by the workers honeybees from the nectar collected from the nectar . It is used as an article of food and in medicines.
BEEWAX -is the secretion from the glands present on the undersurface of the worker bees abdomen . It is used in the manufacture of candles , cosmatics and polishes.
SILK-is the saliva of silkworm ,a larva of silkmoth.
SHELLAC -is the secretion of glands present on the back of the lac insect.
It is used in making sealing wax, gramophone records , electric goods , vanishes, paints, toys and button.

31. HARMFUL INSECTS
CHEWING INSECTS -These Include locusts, grasshopper, beetles and caterpillars.
These insects tear off bits of leaves delicate branches ,chew them and swallow them.
SUCKING INSECTS-These includes aphids ,leaf hoppers plant bugs . These insects make fine punctures in the skin of plants with their needle like hollow beaks and suck the sap.
Insects destroy the value of human possessions e.g. , the grain weevils damage stored grains of all sorts ,the silverfish destroy paper and books ,the ants and cockroaches eat and pollute food in kitchens.