Communication is fundamental to social life. In insects, social communication has been extensively studied in the highly social ants, bees and termites, but much less so in the “other insects societies”, a diverse assemblage of species that live in groups for at least part of their life cycle. Recent research is uncovering a complex and diverse array of communication systems in these group-living insects, often involving substrate-borne vibrational signals. We provide an overview of the behavioral ecology of vibrational communication in group-living species. We organize our discussion around two fundamental ecological relationships: between group-living insects and their food resources, and between group-living insects and their predators. The relatively few studies conducted reveal both divergence among closely-related species that differ in their ecology, as well as convergence among distantly related species facing similar ecological challenges.
CITATION STYLE
Cocroft, R. B., & Hamel, J. A. (2010). Vibrational communication in the “other” social insects: a diversity of ecology, signals, and signal function. In C. O’Connell-Rodwell (Ed.), Vibrational Communication in Animals (1st ed.). Kerala: Research Signposts.
Mendeley helps you to discover research relevant for your work.