Abstract
This chapter reviews the evidence for endocrine influences on division of labor in insect societies. Juvenile hormone (JH) has been studied most extensively. The influence of JH is widespread. It is involved in the control of four major forms of division of labor: division of labor for reproduction among adults, division of labor for reproduction via caste differentiation, division of labor for colony growth and development among adults, and division of labor for colony growth and development via adult physical castes. These controls involve both pre-adult developmental processes of caste determination, and processes of physiological and behavioral maturation in adults. Studies on ecdysteroids and biogenic amines in these contexts have been started. Ecdysteroids are implicated in the control of caste determination and reproductive maturation in bees. The biogenic amine, octopamine, influences the division of labor among workers; octopamine and serotonin exert neurohormonal influences on the production of JH by the corpora allata in both larval and adult honey bees; and octopamine and dopamine are correlated suggestively with aspects of reproductive development in both bumble bees and honey bees.
| Original language | American English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Hormones, Brain and Behavior |
| Place of Publication | San Diego |
| Publisher | Academic Press Inc. |
| Pages | 195-235 |
| Number of pages | 41 |
| Volume | 3 |
| ISBN (Print) | 0125321074 , 9780125321075 |
| State | Published - 2002 |