The Ergonomics of Caste in the Social Insects

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Abstract
The analysis of castes ratios and their effect on colony efficiency can be approached by linear programming models. In the formulation offered here, account has been taken of certain general features of organization and behavior peculiar to insect societies; selection was assumed to be at the colony level; and the optimization goal was given as the maximum production of new queens by a mature colony whose size has an upper limit characteristic of the species. Even in their elementary form the linear models have produced some interesting new conclusions, among which are the following: Castes, including both physical variants and temporal behavioral stages, will tend to be proliferated in evolution until there is one ?nd only one distinct caste specialized to meet each contingency. The more specialized the caste becomes, and in general the more efficient it becomes, the less will be its representation in the colony. This inverse relation between ability and numbers, which is a consequence of selection at the colony level, is the direct opposite of what would be predicted from selection at the level of the individual organism.