The logic of hypersocial colonies

Research output: Contribution to journalComment/debateResearch

It is no wonder that we are transfixed with fascination when we stand in the midst of an ocean of flowing ants within a single extensive society of one of the invasive species. Normal terms do not fit anymore: this is not just a colony, but a “supercolony.” The iconic supercolonial species is the Argentine ant, infamous as a pest and now very well studied, all the way from having its genome sequenced to its global distribution mapped. As the Argentine ant can be the key to understanding other supercolonial and/or invasive ants, it is very timely that Moffett's review (2012) focuses on how we interpret recent studies on social organization in this species. For more than a decade, this field of research has been hampered by misunderstandings due to diverging or changed views (including those of myself). Moffett now makes sense of the complex of …
Original languageEnglish
JournalBehavioral Ecology
Volume23
Issue number5
Pages (from-to)934–935
Number of pages2
ISSN1045-2249
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2012

ID: 37928689