Fire Ant Swarm (IMAGE)

Georgia Institute of Technology

Fire Ant Swarm

Caption

Social insects exhibit a sophisticated social structure in which queens reproduce and workers engage in tasks related to brood-rearing and colony defense. By investigating the evolution of genes associated with castes, sexes and developmental stages of the fire ant Solenopsis invicta, researchers at Georgia Tech and the University of Lausanne explored how social insects produce such a diversity of form and function from genetically similar individuals.

Credit

Georgia Tech/Eric A. Hoffman and Michael A. D. Goodisman

Usage Restrictions

None

License

Licensed content

Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.